Posted: 6/15/07 Section: News

Media Credit: The Associated Press Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, right, speaks with an unidentified member of the audience during a break in his North Carolina State Bar trial in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, June 14, 2007. The North Carolina State Bar has charged Nifong with breaking several rules of professional conduct when investigating the Duke lacrosse rape case, including keeping those DNA results from the defense. If convicted by a disciplinary committee, Nifong could be stripped of his license to practice law in the state.

RALEIGH, N.C. - District Attorney Mike Nifong acknowledged Friday that he "maybe got carried away a little bit" in talking about the three Duke University lacrosse players who were once charged with raping a stripper, and he said he expected to be punished.

"I think clearly some of the statements I made were improper," Nifong testified Friday at his ethics trial.

The North Carolina State Bar charged Nifong with violating several rules governing professional conduct, including making misleading and inflammatory comments about the three indicted athletes. Those statements included calling the players a "bunch of hooligans" and confidently proclaiming he wouldn't allow Durham to become known for "a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl."

The three lacrosse players were later cleared of all charges by the state attorney general, who concluded they were "innocent" victims of a rogue prosecutor's "tragic rush to accuse."

On the stand Friday, Nifong said, "The comment about race was not a comment that should have been made."

Nifong also faces much more serious charges from the bar of lying to both the court and bar investigators and withholding critical DNA test results from the players' attorneys. If convicted, he could be stripped of his license to practice law in the state. He said of the DNA evidence Friday, "Whether we feel it is exculpatory or not, I'm not denying they were entitled to have that evidence."

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