DURHAM -- Former District Attorney Mike Nifong on Tuesday won what in all likelihood will be only a temporary respite from a civil-rights lawsuit filed against him in connection with his role in the Duke lacrosse case.
Because of Nifong's recent bankruptcy filing, U.S. District Court Judge James Beaty Jr. ordered court clerks to remove Nifong from the lawsuit filed by exonerated players David Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann.
A bankruptcy expert, Duke Law School adjunct professor Jeffrey Coyne, said Beaty's move was a "fairly standard administrative move to allow the rest of the lawsuit" to go on. The players are also seeking damages from the city, Durham police and administrators, and a Burlington DNA lab.
But Coyne added that the players' legal team has several options for getting their claims against the former DA heard.
They have to decide whether to ask a bankruptcy judge to refer the case back to Beaty or litigate their claims against Nifong separately in bankruptcy court, Coyne said.
There could be "a bit of gamesmanship" involved on both sides because if the litigation unfolds in bankruptcy court, the judge that handles it doesn't have to honor any findings of fact emerging from proceedings against the other defendants, Coyne said.
The next move involving Nifong will occur on Feb. 8 in the Durham Centre. Bankruptcy trustee Sara Conti has scheduled a meeting that morning with the former DA's likely creditors. Nifong must attend and answer under oath questions put to him by Conti and his creditors
