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Prosecutor apologizes to Duke athletes

Mike Nifong agrees with the decision to drop charges against the lacrosse players.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published April 13, 2007

DURHAM, N.C. - The local prosecutor who charged three Duke lacrosse players with raping a stripper apologized to the athletes Thursday and said the North Carolina attorney general's decision to drop the case was right.

"To the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect, I apologize to the three students that were wrongly accused," Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong said.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Roy Cooper not only dropped all remaining charges against players Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans, but pronounced them innocent and said they were the victims of Nifong's "tragic rush to accuse."

In what appeared to be a plea to the athletes not to take any further action, such as a lawsuit, Nifong said: "It is my sincere desire that the actions of Attorney General Cooper will serve to remedy any remaining injury that has resulted from these cases."

Nifong refused to answer questions after handing the statement to an Associated Press reporter outside his office in Durham.

Attorneys for the players have not said whether they plan a civil action against Nifong.

Finnerty's father, Kevin Finnerty, said Nifong's "attempt at an apology" was "disingenuous and insincere."

"It falls well short of whatever it might take to even remotely repair the damage he has inflicted on so many people," Finnerty said.

When asked if he accepted the apology, Finnerty, said: "I do not. Too little, too late."

[Last modified April 13, 2007, 01:32:18]