Nifong Cross

Q: If you could have spoken to Dave Evans, maybe you could have made a different decision?
A: Yes.

Nifong is continuing to speak quietly. His use of his son as a prop was par for the course, if not disappointing.

Says that he has no specific recollection of Cheshire letter.

Bar prosecutor Doug Brocker is now introducing the Nifong deposition as an official matter.

Brocker presses: you didn't take him up on the offer (Evans) because an expectation he wouldn't confess.

Nifong: if people wanted to make comments about the case, could contact police, but concedes Brocker's recollection of his deposition statement.

Joe Cheshire has termed Nifong's tearful resignation a "cynical" ploy by the ex-DA to retain his law license.

Brocker now goes through Nifong's early statements to disprove Nifong's claim that he was just trying to confine his comments to what was in the public record (NTO), pointing out the absurdity of Nifong's claim that he was trying to keep a lid on a racially charged Durham community.

Brocker is now running through the contradictions between Nifong's claim that 98 percent of his statements occurred before April 3.

"Willing to accept" representation that he never used the word "alleged" in any statement, though Nifong claims that he can't recall any of his specific statements.

Initial briefing, 10-12.

Then 12.45pm: N&O reporter, followed by H-S, local TV stations; then interview at 7am the next morning, then all the people from the day before. Then Bob Ekstrand; then MSNBC's Rita Cosby; then FOX, CNN, Good Morning America. Notes he never appeared on GMA.

Honored his early April appointments; also other media interviews that didn't appear on the calendar.

Introduce Freda Black poll from campaign, showing Black ahead by 17 points on March 27.

Says that he's aware if he lost the primary, he would have lost the only job he ever had.

Brocker is now going through the unusual nature of Nifong's fundraising activities and the relationship between Nifong's loans and his beginning of comments on the case.

Nifong is maintaining his argument that not all the lacrosse players were suspects; but the NTO clearly identified each of the players as suspects. Nifong: "You could argue that."

Nifong appears to be admitting that the March 23 NTO was fraudulent.

Brocker: where did 4-4 photos come from?
Nifong: NTO. But "it was a done deal by the time that I got into the case." "Nothing about the order that struck me as improper." The evidence was there, so why not use it--even if obtained improperly? [An extraordinary argument.]