The committee, after deliberating for a little more than an hour yesterday unanimously agreed with the bar on almost every charge -- including the most serious allegations -- that Nifong's actions involved "dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and misrepresentation."
The veteran prosecutor, who had already pledged to resign his position in Durham County, would waive any right to appeal the punishment, said his attorney, David Freedman.
"He hopes this helps restore some of the confidence in the criminal justice system of North Carolina," Freedman said.
"On one hand, it's very devastating," he said. "On the other hand, he's been going through this process for a long time, so you always have some semblance of relief when the process is over with regardless of the outcome."
Nifong sat motionless, one hand resting over his mouth, as Williamson recounted how he engaged in dishonest and deceitful conduct. State Bar prosecutor Douglas Brocker told the committee that as Nifong investigated the allegations that a stripper was raped and beaten at a March 2006 party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team, he charged "forward toward condemnation and injustice," weaving a "web of deception that has continued up through this hearing."
"Mr. Nifong did not act as a minister of justice, but as a minister of injustice," Brocker said.
The verdicts and the punishment did not appear to surprise Nifong, who acknowledged during sometimes tearful testimony Friday that he would likely be punished for getting "carried away a little bit" when talking about the case.
Disciplinary committee chairman F. Lane Williamson also hinted during yesterday's closing arguments that the three-member panel was likely to conclude that Nifong kept from the defense DNA test results that found genetic material from several men in the accuser's underwear and body, but none from any lacrosse player.
"It wasn't just one little oversight," Williamson said later. "This was conduct over an extended period in a very high-profile case."
