Things are going from bad to worse for Mike Nifong, the district attorney who accused Duke Lacrosse players of rape based on allegations of a stripper:
Raleigh — New ethics charges have been filed by the State Bar accusing Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong of withholding DNA evidence and misleading the court in the Duke lacrosse case.
The amended complaint cites findings from April 2006 that DNA tests found on the alleged accuser excluded all of the Duke lacrosse players as potential contributors.
The complaint also states Nifong was told of the test results by Brian Meehan, the director of the DNA company where the tests were performed. The amended complaint also states that Nifong and Meehan agreed the "potentially exculpatory DNA evidence and test results" would not be provided to defense attorneys.
In subsequent court hearings, Nifong told defense attorneys that he had released all of the evidence that would potentially benefit the defense.
The State Bar also cited dozens of pretrial comments Nifong made to the media early on in the case. On March 13, 2006, a woman, who was working as an exotic dancer, claims she was assaulted by three men during an off-campus party in March involving members of the Duke lacrosse team.
Last month, Nifong dropped rape charges against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans in the case after the accuser wavered in her account of key details in the case. The three men still face sexual assault and kidnapping charges and all three men have maintained their innocence.
And there's this little fact to consider:
The amended charges could lead to Nifong's removal from the State Bar.
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