June 15 (Bloomberg) -- Mike Nifong said he will resign as Durham County District Attorney over his alleged misconduct during the Duke University lacrosse case.

``It has become increasingly apparent in the course of this week that my presence as district attorney in Durham is not furthering the cause of justice,'' Nifong said through tears during the televised ethics hearing.

Nifong, 56, made the statement today before a North Carolina panel that is considering charges of ethical misconduct in his handling of the case against three white Duke players who later were cleared of sexually assaulting a black stripper at a team party.

Nifong's comments came after several hours of testimony, during which he said he made improper statements to the media that probably violated ethics rules. He denied withholding DNA evidence and lying to push the case forward.

``Much of the criticism that has been directed against me in this case is justified,'' Nifong said. ``The allegations that I'm a liar, however, are not justified.''

Nifong said he intended to resign regardless of the hearing's outcome. He faces possible disbarment.

The North Carolina State Bar charged Nifong with ethics violations stemming from his pursuit of the case. State Attorney General Roy Cooper dropped charges against the three players in April, saying they had been caught in a ``tragic rush to accuse.''

Campaign

Nifong was running for re-election at the time. At one point in the campaign, he said he was ``not going to let Durham's view in the eyes of the world be a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl from Durham.'' He also called the players ``hooligans.''

``It is not fair to the people of my community to be represented by someone who is not held in high esteem by either the members of the community or the members of the profession,'' Nifong said.

His testimony came after Reade Seligmann, one of the accused, told the panel that he and his father collapsed on the ground when they learned that Nifong was charging him with rape and kidnapping.

``You get that feeling in your stomach, that hit,'' the 21- year-old Seligmann said, wiping away tears. ``The room felt like it was spinning. I just sat on the ground and said, `My life is over.'''

Cooper said when he dropped the charges against Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and David Evans that he believed they were innocent.

``Everything that happened, all the bad stuff that we had to go through and all the tough times were erased when he said it,'' Seligmann said. ``The room just erupted. Just erupted. I've only been around for 21 years but if there's a changing point in my life, I can point to that moment. My whole life turned around on that word.''

Mock Wanted Posters

During Nifong's prosecution of the case, Seligmann said, the player's picture appeared on mock wanted posters across campus, along with those of Finnerty and Evans. His family and teammates were chased by reporters and found themselves outcasts on campus and at home. He described telling his girlfriend of the charges and carrying her weeping across campus wrapped in a blanket.

Seligmann said his family borrowed $400,000 for his bond and that he was shocked when Nifong continued to prosecute even after DNA tests failed to link the players to the alleged assault.

He said the case led to a ``media frenzy for an entire year,'' as camera crews parked on his parents' lawn, chasing his family from the house. He said people shouted at him in crowds, ``Justice will be done, rapist,'' and ``You're going to get yours, rapist.''

``I was terrified, completely terrified,'' he said.

Seligmann was admitted to Brown University as a transfer student, the Ivy League school said in May, and probably will enter as a junior in September.

To contact the reporter on this story: Larry DiTore in New York at lditore@bloomberg.net; Aaron Kuriloff in New York at akuriloff@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: June 15, 2007 17:03 EDT