BIG_DADDY
06-15-2007, 10:30 AM
Duke Player Testifies in Hearing on Prosecutor
By DUFF WILSON and JOHN HOLUSHA
Published: June 15, 2007
RALEIGH, N.C. June 15 — One of the Duke University lacrosse players accused of rape testified today how his life was “turned upside down” by Durham County District Attorney Michael B. Nifong’s determination to prosecute him despite an alibi and negative DNA evidence.
Reade W. Seligmann, 21, of Essex Fells, N.J. was for the most part poised as he testified at a hearing on whether Mr. Nifong violated ethics standards in pursuing the case against the three Duke students, who have since been cleared of all charges.
Mr. Seligman said “my Dad fell to the floor,” when he was told that the stripper who had been hired by the lacrosse team to perform at a party had picked him out of a lineup as one of those who had assaulted her. “I sat on the ground thinking ‘my life is over.’”
Mr. Nifong watched without visible expression as Mr. Seligmann described how people in familiar restaurants and on the Duke campus turned against him after the charges were filed. “The feeling on campus was as lonely as you can imagine,” he said.
Although composed during most of his hour and a half as a witness, Mr. Seligmann, 21, occasionally took deep breaths and sniffled as he recounted the emotional battering that he and his teammates endured as Mr. Nifong continued pressing the charges.
He said Mr. Nifong refused to meet with his lawyer, who had evidence that Mr. Seligmann was not at the scene when the assault supposedly occurred, saying he was not interested in “fiction.” He said Mr. Nifong “smirked” on another occasion when the evidence was offered.
He said a study partner in an African-American studies class, in which he was the only white student, wrote an article for a student publication saying the supposed assault on a black woman had “brought back the Jim Crow South.”
Mr. Nifong was scheduled to testify in his own defense today, after three days of testimony accusing him of breaching ethics standards in public statements and lying about evidence in pre-trial hearings.
The North Carolina State Bar, a state agency, is presenting the case in front of a three-member panel, which today rejected a motion by Mr. Nifong’s lawyer to dismiss some of the charges. A decision is expected by Saturday, and Mr. Nifong faces possible disbarment.
The bar has accused him of “systematic abuse of prosecutorial discretion” and “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation.”
During the previous days of testimony, Mr. Nifong has been accused of hiding and lying about DNA testing that showed that four unidentified men had contact with the accuser, who was hired by the lacrosse team in March 2006.
Mr. Nifong is also accused of inflaming the community and damaging the rights of the defendants with pre-trial publicity when he said he was certain that a gang rape had occurred.
During a candidate forum while he was running for district attorney, Mr. Nifong said “I am not going to let Durham’s view in the eyes of the world be a bunch of lacrosse player from Duke raping a black girl from Durham.”
Last December, Mr. Nifong dropped the rape charges, but retained the sexual assault and kidnapping charges that carry equally serious penalties.
In January, he recused himself from the case to fight the ethics charges.
In April, the state’s attorney general, Roy B. Cooper dismissed all the remaining charges. Mr. Seligmann said today the decision “gave me my life back.”
Mr. Nifong, 56, is a 29-year veteran of the district attorney’s office. He was appointed to the top job in April 2005 by Governor Mike Easley after his predecessor became a judge.
Mr. Nifong brought the rape charges while he was in an election contest against a better known former assistant district attorney. The bar accused him of pressing the rape case for political reasons.
By DUFF WILSON and JOHN HOLUSHA
Published: June 15, 2007
RALEIGH, N.C. June 15 — One of the Duke University lacrosse players accused of rape testified today how his life was “turned upside down” by Durham County District Attorney Michael B. Nifong’s determination to prosecute him despite an alibi and negative DNA evidence.
Reade W. Seligmann, 21, of Essex Fells, N.J. was for the most part poised as he testified at a hearing on whether Mr. Nifong violated ethics standards in pursuing the case against the three Duke students, who have since been cleared of all charges.
Mr. Seligman said “my Dad fell to the floor,” when he was told that the stripper who had been hired by the lacrosse team to perform at a party had picked him out of a lineup as one of those who had assaulted her. “I sat on the ground thinking ‘my life is over.’”
Mr. Nifong watched without visible expression as Mr. Seligmann described how people in familiar restaurants and on the Duke campus turned against him after the charges were filed. “The feeling on campus was as lonely as you can imagine,” he said.
Although composed during most of his hour and a half as a witness, Mr. Seligmann, 21, occasionally took deep breaths and sniffled as he recounted the emotional battering that he and his teammates endured as Mr. Nifong continued pressing the charges.
He said Mr. Nifong refused to meet with his lawyer, who had evidence that Mr. Seligmann was not at the scene when the assault supposedly occurred, saying he was not interested in “fiction.” He said Mr. Nifong “smirked” on another occasion when the evidence was offered.
He said a study partner in an African-American studies class, in which he was the only white student, wrote an article for a student publication saying the supposed assault on a black woman had “brought back the Jim Crow South.”
Mr. Nifong was scheduled to testify in his own defense today, after three days of testimony accusing him of breaching ethics standards in public statements and lying about evidence in pre-trial hearings.
The North Carolina State Bar, a state agency, is presenting the case in front of a three-member panel, which today rejected a motion by Mr. Nifong’s lawyer to dismiss some of the charges. A decision is expected by Saturday, and Mr. Nifong faces possible disbarment.
The bar has accused him of “systematic abuse of prosecutorial discretion” and “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation.”
During the previous days of testimony, Mr. Nifong has been accused of hiding and lying about DNA testing that showed that four unidentified men had contact with the accuser, who was hired by the lacrosse team in March 2006.
Mr. Nifong is also accused of inflaming the community and damaging the rights of the defendants with pre-trial publicity when he said he was certain that a gang rape had occurred.
During a candidate forum while he was running for district attorney, Mr. Nifong said “I am not going to let Durham’s view in the eyes of the world be a bunch of lacrosse player from Duke raping a black girl from Durham.”
Last December, Mr. Nifong dropped the rape charges, but retained the sexual assault and kidnapping charges that carry equally serious penalties.
In January, he recused himself from the case to fight the ethics charges.
In April, the state’s attorney general, Roy B. Cooper dismissed all the remaining charges. Mr. Seligmann said today the decision “gave me my life back.”
Mr. Nifong, 56, is a 29-year veteran of the district attorney’s office. He was appointed to the top job in April 2005 by Governor Mike Easley after his predecessor became a judge.
Mr. Nifong brought the rape charges while he was in an election contest against a better known former assistant district attorney. The bar accused him of pressing the rape case for political reasons.