As Michael Nifong, the disgraced former prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse rape case, reported to jail in Durham, N.C., Friday to serve 24 hours for criminal contempt, the three students he had accused were reportedly in talks with the city for a settlement of $30 million and a package of law-enforcement changes.
A person familiar with the negotiations confirmed the details of the settlement proposal. If the city refuses, the students are threatening to file a civil rights lawsuit.
Beverly Thompson, a spokeswoman for the city, declined to discuss the talks, which were first reported by The Durham Herald-Sun.
On Friday, Nifong, surrounded by supporters including his wife and son, reported to jail, declining to answer questions from reporters. While opponents heckled him, a few people carried signs reading, “We believe in your integrity and goodness.”
The sheriff said Nifong would be held alone in a cell for his protection.
The law-enforcement changes requested by the students and their lawyers include oversight of the Police Department by an independent commission, stricter procedures and videotaping of witness identifications conducted by the police, and the passage of a City Council resolution calling on the state to establish ombudsmen for district attorney’s offices and require the transcription of grand jury proceedings.
Barry Scheck and Brendan Sullivan Jr., the lawyers representing the three lacrosse players, made the settlement proposal at a meeting Wednesday, where city representatives were shown a copy of a civil rights complaint to be filed next month if no progress has been made on negotiations. On Thursday, City Council memebers were briefed on the meeting.
The suit would be filed against Nifong, the Durham Police Department and other participants in the investigation. The city is potentially liable because of police involvement in bringing proceedings against the students.
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The proposal calls for $10 million each for David Evans, 24, Collin Finnerty, 20, and Reade Seligmann, 21, who have already received an undisclosed sum from Duke University.
The case began in March 2006, when a woman hired to perform a strip tease at a lacrosse team party said she had been sexually assaulted by three team members.
In bringing charges against the three, Nifong discounted their alibis, a lack of forensic evidence to support the accuser’s account and a flawed police lineup identification. .
Last week, Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III found that Nifong had lied about withholding DNA evidence that later helped exonerate the three men, and sentenced him to 1 out of a possible 30 days in jail.