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Ex-Duke lacrosse player doesn’t ‘feel’ for Nifong

Former Duke University lacrosse player Reade Seligmann, who had been cleared of charges he and two teammates raped a hired stripper, says he feels sorry for disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong’s family — but not necessarily for Nifong.Seligmann says he was hurt by Nifong’s statement last week at a North Carolina bar disciplinary committee hearing that the former prosecutor still thinks “somet
/ Source: TODAY contributor

Former Duke University lacrosse player Reade Seligmann, who had been cleared of charges he and two teammates raped a hired stripper, says he feels sorry for disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong’s family — but not necessarily for Nifong.

Seligmann says he was hurt by Nifong’s statement last week at a North Carolina bar disciplinary committee hearing that the former prosecutor still thinks “something happened in that bathroom” at that now-infamous team party last year.

“It was probably one of the most difficult parts of the hearing,” Seligmann, 21, told TODAY host Meredith Vieira during an exclusive interview on Monday. “I really did feel sympathy for his family ... It’s been a tragedy that another family is going to have to suffer because of Mike Nifong’s actions, but after hearing him say that, it really did make it difficult to feel [for him].”

Nifong, 56, was disbarred by the disciplinary committee on Saturday, a day after he admitted he made mistakes and announced he was resigning his elected post as Durham district attorney. However, at the hearing, Nifong made a statement indicating that he still clung to suspicions that the lacrosse team’s party had ended abruptly for a reason.

Seligmann, who left the Durham, N.C., university following his since-dismissed indictment, plans to attend Brown University in Rhode Island this fall and play lacrosse again.



Meanwhile, attorneys for Seligmann and the other two exonerated men, Collin Finnerty, 20, and David Evans, 24, are preparing to file a civil lawsuit against Nifong. The bar association found that Nifong withheld evidence that would have helped the men’s defense attorneys and lied about it.

“For me, the only thing I can worry about now is getting back in the classroom, and getting back on the lacrosse field,” Seligmann said. “I do know the attorneys are going to be filing for sanctions for Mr. Nifong.”

‘Moving on’

For Seligmann, the disciplinary hearing and Nifong’s disbarment provided a measure of closure for the nightmare that began when he attended a team party featuring two strippers on March 13, 2006.

One of the women told police that she was sexually assaulted by three partygoers, whom she later identified as Seligmann and his friends.



Among other things, Nifong withheld from the defense the discovery of genetic material from several men in the accuser's underwear and body, but none from any lacrosse player. And in October, he admitted that neither he nor his subordinates had spoken directly to the accuser.



The bar commission upheld 27 of the 32 ethics and prosecutorial charges filed against Nifong, who said Friday that he believed disbarment was the appropriate punishment for his conduct.



Through tears, Nifong said he tried to do “right,” the way his parents taught him.



“It provided all of our family with a lot of closure. It’s been such a long year,” Seligmann said Monday. “The hearing felt like it too forever ... It’s probably something you’ll never get over, but the state bar really did an incredible job. They showed courage by intervening in our case, and they did do the right thing by disbarring Mr. Nifong.”

He added, “We’re all moving on here.”