Police review cites flaws in Duke case

A flawed police photo lineup was used to secure rape charges against three former Duke University lacrosse players last year, Durham’s city manager said Friday, calling the 13 months it took for the defendants to be exonerated a “tortured path to justice.”

“We regret the inadvertent creation of the opportunity to perpetuate false charges against these individuals,” City Manager Patrick W. Baker said in a five-page letter accompanying a police review of the case released late Friday.

But defense lawyers deserve some blame for not fully cooperating with police, Baker said. He said police tried to obtain exculpatory evidence from the defense and witnesses.

Defense lawyers have said they were repeatedly rebuffed in efforts to get Durham County Dist. Atty. Mike Nifong to consider evidence that would prove their clients’ innocence. In court papers and media interviews, they have provided specific details of Nifong’s refusal to receive or discuss such evidence.

Baker said the working relationship between Nifong and the defense team “was not conducive to an efficient and thorough review of the facts.” He denied accusations that police ceded the investigation to Nifong, who took a highly public role in the case.

But neither Baker’s letter nor the seven-page police review addressed why Nifong pursued a flawed case -- even after it was clear that no eyewitnesses, DNA tests or forensic evidence supported a stripper’s rape accusations. The stripper said she was attacked at a lacrosse team party in March 2006.

Nifong faces ethics charges by the North Carolina State Bar next month, and he could be disbarred. He is accused of withholding evidence and making inflammatory and prejudicial public statements about the defendants.

Baker said a police photo lineup on April 4, 2006, was “of questionable validity” but did not have to conform to procedures because it was intended only to identify people who had attended the party. The lineup contained photos of 46 lacrosse players, but no “filler” photos of nonsuspects as required by Durham police procedures.

Police let the accuser use that session to identify the three defendants as her attackers.

The defense called it “a multiple-choice test in which there were no wrong answers.”

Last month, North Carolina Atty. Gen. Roy Cooper, who reinvestigated the case, dropped all charges against the three, David Evans, 24, Collin Finnerty, 20, and Reade Seligmann, 21. He called Nifong a “rogue prosecutor” and said the accuser’s various accounts of a purported attack were false.

Defense attorneys and other critics have asked for an independent review of the police investigation. Baker said he would leave that decision to the Durham City Council.

In the police summary, Chief Steven W. Chalmers defended multiple photo lineups that included only lacrosse players. He said photos of players other than the three ultimately charged were considered “filler” photos.

At the time of the lineups, almost every lacrosse player was a potential suspect.

Chalmers also listed several examples of what he said were police attempts to obtain exculpatory evidence. Most came before the defendants were indicted and involved standard police procedure.

He did not address defense evidence -- such as cellphone records, time-stamped ATM withdrawals and party photos -- that the defense said would have cleared their clients but was not fully considered by prosecutors.

david.zucchino@latimes.com