Durham County

DURHAM, N.C. -- The local prosecutor who charged three Duke lacrosse players with raping a stripper apologized to the athletes yesterday 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," said Mike Nifong, the district attorney of Durham County. On Wednesday, Attorney General Roy Cooper not only dropped all remaining charges against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans, but pronounced them innocent...

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Three former Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape filed a sweeping federal lawsuit yesterday that could return the sensational case to a courtroom, suing disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong, the city of Durham, and the police detectives who handled the investigation. The lawsuit calls the criminal case against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and Dave Evans "one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial, and scientific misconduct in modern American history.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A lab director who tested DNA in the Duke lacrosse rape investigation testified yesterday that the district attorney never asked for a final report on his work, but he and Mike Nifong did not conspire to hide evidence from the defense. "We did not withhold anything," said Dr. Brian Meehan. The North Carolina State Bar has charged Nifong, the Durham County district attorney, with violating rules of professional conduct through his handling of allegations that a stripper was raped at a party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team.

DURHAM, N.C. - Richard Brodhead, president of Duke University, apologized yesterday for not better supporting the men's lacrosse team and their families after three players were falsely accused in last year's highly publicized rape scandal. Brodhead, speaking at the university's law school, said he regretted Duke's "failure to reach out" in a "time of extraordinary peril" after a woman accused three players of raping her at a March 2006 party thrown by the team. "Given the complexities of this case, getting the communication right would never have been easy,"...

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Three former Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape filed a sweeping federal lawsuit yesterday that could return the sensational case to a courtroom, suing disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong, the city of Durham, and the police detectives who handled the investigation. The lawsuit calls the criminal case against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and Dave Evans "one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial, and scientific misconduct in modern American history.

DURHAM, N.C. - Mike Nifong, the disgraced former Durham County district attorney, was held in criminal contempt of court yesterday for lying to a judge when pursuing rape charges against three falsely accused Duke University lacrosse players. Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III sentenced Nifong, who has been stripped of his law license and has resigned from office, to a single day in jail. He had faced up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. "If what I impose with regard to Mr. Nifong would make things better or different for what's already...

DURHAM, N.C. - Richard Brodhead, president of Duke University, apologized yesterday for not better supporting the men's lacrosse team and their families after three players were falsely accused in last year's highly publicized rape scandal. Brodhead, speaking at the university's law school, said he regretted Duke's "failure to reach out" in a "time of extraordinary peril" after a woman accused three players of raping her at a March 2006 party thrown by the team. "Given the complexities of this case, getting the communication right...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- District Attorney Mike Nifong will be disbarred for his prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, a disciplinary committee decided yesterday. Even the veteran prosecutor said the punishment was appropriate. "This matter has been a fiasco. There's no doubt about it," said committee chairman F. Lane Williamson. The North Carolina State Bar charged Nifong with breaking several rules of professional conduct, including lying to both the court and bar investigators and withholding critical DNA test results from the...

The Durham County sheriff says a man killed three women and himself in a car near a North Carolina business park. Durham County Sheriff Worth Hill told The News & Observer of Raleigh on Sunday that investigators have a theory on what led to the shootings early Saturday in Research Triangle Park near Durham but aren’t ready to release it. Details were scarce. Authorities identified the dead women as 23-year-old Alexandria Pierce, 24-year-old Amesha Page-Smith and 22-year-old Adrianne Stevens.

Novelist Michael Peterson has walked out of a North Carolina jail, one day after a judge ordered a new trial in the 2001 death of Peterson's wife. Peterson posted the $300,000 secured bond set by Judge Orlando Hudson, who ruled that a key prosecution witness misled jurors about the strength of bloodstain evidence. Speaking to reporters Thursday outside the Durham County jail, Peterson said he'd waited eight years to get a new trial. He thanked Hudson for giving him a chance to vindicate himself and prove his innocence.

DURHAM, N.C. - Mike Nifong, the disgraced former Durham County district attorney, was held in criminal contempt of court yesterday for lying to a judge when pursuing rape charges against three falsely accused Duke University lacrosse players. Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III sentenced Nifong, who has been stripped of his law license and has resigned from office, to a single day in jail. He had faced up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine. "If what I impose with regard to Mr. Nifong would make things better or different for what's already happened, I don't know what...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- District Attorney Mike Nifong will be disbarred for his prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, a disciplinary committee decided yesterday. Even the veteran prosecutor said the punishment was appropriate. "This matter has been a fiasco. There's no doubt about it," said committee chairman F. Lane Williamson. The North Carolina State Bar charged Nifong with breaking several rules of professional conduct, including lying to both the court and bar investigators and withholding critical DNA test results from the...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A lab director who tested DNA in the Duke lacrosse rape investigation testified yesterday that the district attorney never asked for a final report on his work, but he and Mike Nifong did not conspire to hide evidence from the defense. "We did not withhold anything," said Dr. Brian Meehan. The North Carolina State Bar has charged Nifong, the Durham County district attorney, with violating rules of professional conduct through his handling of allegations that a stripper was raped at a party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team.

DURHAM, N.C. -- The local prosecutor who charged three Duke lacrosse players with raping a stripper apologized to the athletes yesterday 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," said Mike Nifong, the district attorney of Durham County. On Wednesday, Attorney General Roy Cooper not only dropped all remaining charges against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans,...

Four people have been found shot to death along a highway in a North Carolina business research park, authorities said Saturday. The Durham County Sheriff’s Office said the bodies of three women were found early Saturday in a car on N.C. Highway 54 in Research Triangle Park, while the body of a man was outside the car. Lt. Stan Harris said the shootings weren’t random, but he said he couldn’t disclose any other details. Officers responded after receiving a call just before midnight of shots fired.

DURHAM, N.C. - When Lucille Richmond cast her ballot for Barack Obama three years ago, she, like many African-Americans, embraced the historic opportunity to help elect the nation's first black president. But waiting in line at the county employment security commission last week, the 52-year-old grandmother - who lost two food preparation jobs and is searching for full-time work - can't muster the will to support Obama for a second term. "I don't see what he's done," said Richmond, a Democrat.