Legal News

Unindicted Duke Lax Players Sue School, Others

By Dan Slater

The last couple of times we checked in on the Duke Lax saga, the three falsely accused players had filed a155-page complaint against ex-prosecutor Mike Nifong and the city of Durham for obstruction of justice and conspiracy, which was then followed, last month, by Nifong’s personal bankruptcy filing.

Now, a group of current and former Duke lacrosse players are suing Duke, Durham and several school and police officials in federal court in North Carolina for fraud, abuse and breach of duty for supporting the prosecution of the case. They seek unspecified damages for invasion of privacy, emotional distress and other injuries. (Click here for the complaint.) Lead attorney for the players, Chuck Cooper, plans to discuss the lawsuit later today at a news conference in Washington. Click here for the AP story,and here for the FOX news report.

“These young men want an acknowledgment that they were wronged by institutions and individuals that they trusted to treat them honestly,” Cooper said in a statement. “They were victimized by a corrupt investigation that ignored or suppressed evidence that would have cleared them.”

According to reports, players claim that Duke ignored, suppressed and discredited evidence that proved their innocence. Duke suspended and then canceled the highly ranked team’s season in the wake of the rape allegation.

“Their legal strategy — attacking Duke — is misdirected and without merit,” said university vice president and general counsel Pamela Bernard, according to reports. “We will vigorously defend the university against these claims.”

LB Loyals, whaddya think of this idea — suing the university and the town of Durham? Make any sense?

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on February 21, 2008 (boomark / email).