Duke University has come to an undisclosed financial agreement with the three wrongfully accused lacrosse players and runaway prosecutor Mike Nifong, now disbarred, has been ordered by a judge to cease being District Attorney immediately.

DURHAM, N.C. — Duke University has reached an undisclosed financial settlement with three former lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, while a judge said late Monday he would order the disbarred prosecutor to leave office immediately.

Duke had suspended Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans after they were charged last year with raping a stripper at an off-campus party. The university also canceled the team’s season and forced their coach to resign.

“We welcomed their exoneration and deeply regret the difficult year they and their families have had to endure,” the school said Monday in a statement. “These young men and their families have been the subject of intense scrutiny that has taken a heavy toll.”

How big of them, especially since the president of Duke judged them guilty at the time of the arrests and 88 faculty members signed a letter saying they were guilty and charging them with racism.

I hope they got a tidy sum, and I wish they would get an apology from the 88 faculty members, but I won’t hold my breath on that.

Disbarred and disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong thought he had an agreement to stay on as District Attorney until July 13. I don’t know how, since he’s no longer a lawyer.

Earlier Monday, Nifong said he planned to leave office next month in a resignation letter to Gov. Mike Easley and to Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson, who is overseeing a pending request to remove Nifong from office.

“It is my fervent hope that this action will spare this community the further anguish a removal hearing would entail and will allow the healing process to move forward,” Nifong wrote.

But Nifong’s July 13 departure date wasn’t soon enough for Hudson, who decided late Monday to suspend Nifong from office.

As part of the suspension, Hudson said he would order the sheriff on Tuesday to prevent Nifong from carrying out any duties of the district attorney.

“I have thought about the situation, and this is way I wish to proceed,” said Hudson who initially agreed to allow Nifong work until next month.

Seems reasonable to me.

Nifong will still be able to collect his pension and health benefits earned while working in the DAs office for 30 years.

Even if the exonerated and innocent former Duke students sue Nifong I think his pension is safe from seizure. If reader David happens to read this maybe he can tell us for sure.

Look for the lawyers to press for criminal and/or civil charges against Nifong and the city of Durham to retrieve the fortune that was spent defending these men.

What would have happened if they had not come from families that had the money or friends from whom to borrow the money for their defense?

They probably would have had to cop a plea to something they didn’t do in order to stay out of jail for 30 years. This is something they themselves have mentioned.

Written by ~J~
Duke, exonerated lacrosse players reach settlement | lacrosse linked with Duke, exonerated lacrosse players reach settlement | lacrosse

3 Responses to “Duke Settles With Lacrosse Players; Judge Gives Nifong the Boot”

1. Duke, exonerated lacrosse players reach settlement | lacrosse says:

   June 19, 2007 at 2:38 pm

   [...] Duke University has come to an undisclosed financial agreement with the three wrongfully accused lacrosse players and runaway prosecutor Mike Nifong, now disbarred, has been ordered by a judge to cease being District Attorney … …Sportzia More [...]
2. david says:

   June 19, 2007 at 7:44 pm

   Just saw the note to me. His pension probably is safe. It would be a state retirement and it’s safe under our law. I doubt if it would be different in the other states, but I can’t be possitive.
3. ~J~ says:

   June 19, 2007 at 8:25 pm

   I think that’s true everywhere, David. Remember the Goldman’s couldn’t touch OJs retirement.

   Kind of like bankruptcy. They have to let you have an amount of money to live.

   Thanks for the comment.