Falsely accused Duke Lacrosse players sue.

Duke Lacrosse Players Sue Nifong, City

Three former Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape filed a sweeping federal lawsuit Friday that could return the sensational case to a courtroom, suing disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong, the city of Durham and the police detectives who handled the investigation.

The lawsuit calls the criminal case against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans "one of the most chilling episodes of premeditated police, prosecutorial and scientific misconduct in modern American history."

It seeks unspecified damages and numerous reforms to the way the Durham Police Department handles criminal investigations—including the appointment of a monitor who would have the power to hire, fire and promote department employees, including the chief, for 10 years.

Apparently unable, or unwilling, to reach a deal with the families, the city pledged Friday to defend itself and its employees, but not Nifong—who held a state office—or the private DNA testing lab he hired.

The case seeks damages to punish the defendants "for outrageous conduct pursued out of actual malice" that violated the players' civil rights. It also seeks the creation of an independent committee to publicly review complaints of police misconduct, the improvement of police training procedures and an injunction prohibiting Meehan and his laboratory from providing reports or expert testimony in court for 10 years.

"They really do feel like they need to be vindicated and money won't do it," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond. "They had to spend a year vindicating themselves. I can understand how they would want to have full relief, especially reforming the system if possible."

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