RALEIGH, N.C. — Facing ethics charges that could lead to his disbarment, the embattled district attorney in the Duke lacrosse sexual assault case has asked the state Attorney General's Office to appoint a special prosecutor to take over the case.
Noelle Talley, a spokeswoman for the attorney general, said Friday in an e-mail that District Attorney Mike Nifong sent a letter requesting the special prosecutor. She did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Nifong did not return several calls from The Associated Press.
His attorney insisted the veteran prosecutor was not running from a weak case.
"He feels, as a result of the accusations against him, that he would be a distraction, and he wants to make sure the accuser receives a fair trial," attorney David Freedman told The Associated Press. "He still believes in the case. He just believes his continued presence would hurt her."
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Last month, the North Carolina State Bar charged Nifong with violating four rules of professional conduct for making misleading and inflammatory comments about the athletes under suspicion.
It was not immediately clear what impact Nifong's decision would have on the troubled criminal prosecution of Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans.
"If (state Attorney General Roy Cooper) accepts it, then they would transfer the files over, and they would probably have a lot of interviews to do," said Peg Dorer, director of the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys. "It would probably stop things for a while, I imagine."
Experts have said it appears his case is based only on the testimony of an accuser who has told wildly different versions of the March 13 alleged assault at a Duke lacrosse team party — a shifting story led him to drop rape charges on Dec. 22.
