City: Duke lacrosse photo lineup flawed

Police failed to follow procedures for the photo lineup used to obtain rape indictments against three members of the Duke lacrosse team, a city official said Friday in expressing regret for the mistake.

The lineup was never intended to identify suspects in the case, which finally collapsed last month when state prosecutors declared the three players innocent, city manager Patrick Baker said in a report to the mayor and the City Council.

Instead, Baker said investigators were trying to identify witnesses after the accuser, who had told police she was raped at a lacrosse team party where she was hired to perform as a stripper, had failed to identify her attackers during six previous attempts.

David Evans, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty _ identified by the accuser to varying degrees during the April 4, 2006, lineup _ were charged with rape, kidnapping and sexual offense. They maintained innocence throughout the bungled prosecution.

"It is not lost on the Police Department that regardless of our intentions, the April 4 photo process created the opportunity for the false allegations to be specifically linked to Evans, Seligmann and Finnerty and further played a critical role in the decision by the Durham District Attorney to seek and ultimately obtain indictments of these individuals," Baker wrote in his report.

Baker also pointed to the fractured relationship between the defense and Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong as the reason it took more than a year for authorities to conclude the accuser's allegations were unfounded. The relationship, he said, "was not conducive to an efficient and thorough review of the facts of this case."

Nifong, who turned over the case to the state Attorney General's office late last year, was unavailable for comment Friday afternoon because he was on vacation, his assistant Candy Clark said.

"I don't read this report to be critical of Mr. Nifong," said his attorney, David Freedman.

Nifong is to stand trial next month on ethics charges filed by the North Carolina State Bar tied to his handling of the lacrosse case. Among other things, the bar has accused him of trying to withhold potentially exculpatory DNA evidence from the defense.

Nifong could lose his law license if the bar rules against him.