Source: Exonerated Duke lacrosse players to seek about US$30 M, legal reforms

MARTHA WAGGONER

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Lawyers for the three players falsely accused in the Duke University lacrosse rape case are seeking a settlement of about US$30 million and several changes to the state's legal process, a person close to the case said early Friday.

If the terms aren't met, the players' lawyers will file a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Durham early next month, said the source, who requested anonymity because not all of the details of the proposed settlement had been worked out.

During a discussion Wednesday with Durham officials, players' lawyers Brendan Sullivan and Barry Scheck, stressed that the money they are seeking - about US$10 million each for David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann over five years - must be accompanied by the legal reforms, the source said.

On Thursday, City Attorney Henry Blinder and City Manager Patrick Baker briefed elected officials on the settlement discussions, according to The Herald-Sun of Durham, which first reported on the settlement demands. The city has a US$5 million liability insurance policy with a $500,000 deductible, the paper reported.

In addition to the money, the lawyers are seeking the creation of ombudsman positions to review complaints of misconduct about North Carolina district attorneys, the source said. They also want Durham city officials to lead the lobbying for any legal changes that would require action by the state's General Assembly.

The three players were charged with raping a woman hired to strip at an off-campus party thrown by the lacrosse team in March 2006, but the case was thrown out and the players declared innocent after it became clear that the evidence the case was built on was pitifully weak.

The Durham County district attorney who brought the charges, Mike Nifong, was scheduled to report to jail at 9 a.m. Friday to serve a 24-hour sentence after being found in contempt last week for lying to the court.

Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III ruled that Nifong, who was disbarred for committing more than two dozen violations of the state's rules of professional conduct, "wilfully made false statements" to the court last September when he insisted he had given defence attorneys all results from a critical DNA test.

The omitted data contained test results showing that DNA of multiple men, none of whom were lacrosse players, was found on the accuser. A defence lawyers eventually deciphered the omitted information amid nearly 2,000 pages of test data.