Nifong makes unequivocal apology for lacrosse case

DURHAM -- Mike Nifong issued his third public apology on Thursday for his handling of the Duke lacrosse case. This one was different because of what was missing.

This time, the words "I apologize" were not preceded by a qualifying phrase that began "To the extent that. ..."

At the start of a hearing on criminal contempt charges against him, the former district attorney read a statement expressing sorrow for the impact of his actions on Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, the three players he had attempted to prosecute for sexual assault.

"I have admitted on more than one occasion that I have made mistakes in the prosecution of these cases," Nifong said. "For that, I sincerely apologize to Mr. Seligmann, Mr. Finnerty, Mr. Evans and to their families."

Joseph B. Cheshire V, one of the defense attorneys who has been critical of Nifong's qualified apologies, acknowledged the Thursday offering as one that would mean more to the players and their families.

"It's a statement that has much more validity than any of the other so-called apologies," Cheshire said.

Nifong, in court with a new and neatly trimmed Vandyke beard and mustache, said that after reading N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper's full report on the lacrosse case, he no longer believed there was credible evidence to proceed with cases against the three accused of gang-raping Crystal Gail Mangum, the escort service dancer who made the allegations.

"I agree with the attorney general's statement that there is no credible evidence that Mr. Seligmann, Mr. Finnerty or Mr. Evans committed any of the crimes for which they were indicted -- or any other crimes against Ms. Mangum -- during the party that occurred on March 13th and 14th, 2006," he said.

None of the exonerated players or family members attended the hearing. None could be reached for comment Thursday.

Judge W. Osmond Smith III has accused Nifong of lying to the court in September 2006 about DNA evidence favorable to the lacrosse players. The first hearing on the matter was Thursday.

After Nifong's apology, lawyers representing the players agreed not to seek sanctions against the former prosecutor, who resigned early this month and is in the process of being disbarred.

The defense team had previously asked Smith to make Nifong pay for the 60 to 100 hours of work it took one of their lawyers to ferret out relevant test results in 1,844 pages of DNA documents. The results helped show the presence of DNA from men not on the lacrosse team on evidence collected from the accuser hours after she made the sexual assault allegations.

The lawyers did not get into the heart of the contempt case on Thursday. The judge scheduled the next hearing for Aug. 30 and 31.

Nifong could face a possible fine as well as a jail sentence of up to 30 days.

Nifong's lawyers, Ann B. Petersen and Jim Glover, asked the judge to seek a grand jury indictment before proceeding with the case, but Smith denied their request. The Chapel Hill lawyers also asked for a jury trial, which the judge also turned down.

The players were exonerated and declared innocent of all charges by Cooper on April 11.

Nifong resigned as district attorney early this month after a State Bar disciplinary panel found him guilty of intentionally and repeatedly lying and cheating during his prosecution of the lacrosse case.

Nifong angered the players and their parents at the Bar trial in June when, after a day of tearful and emotional testimony, he said that despite evidence to the contrary, he believed something happened in the Buchanan Boulevard house on the night of the team party.

Nifong said Thursday the players were entitled to the presumption of innocence when they were under indictment.

"Surely they are entitled to more than that now as they go forward for the rest of their lives, and that is what the attorney general tried to give them in his declaration that they are innocent," Nifong added.