Better late than never, I suppose.  I could also say third time is the charm. There are probably a few other apt clichés that fit here. So many digital trees have been sacrificed to discuss the false and malicious prosecution of the Duke lacrosse players last year by renegade district attorney Michael Nifong that I'm going to skip over the details. Here is a quick summary:

The case started with a woman's allegations that she was raped at a March 2006 lacrosse team party where she was hired as a stripper. Nifong won indictments against three team members, but the charges were later dropped, and state Attorney General Roy Cooper went a step farther by declaring the three men innocent victims of Nifong's "tragic rush to accuse." ( Chron.com)

Nifong is now the definition of disgraced. He has been disbarred and removed from office. He is now facing contempt of court charges for his suppression and misrepresentation of evidence in the (now dismissed) rape case. But he has now, through the redemptive power of apology, avoided additional sanctions previously sought by his erstwhile victims. But it wasn't easy, even at this late hour, for him to admit he was wrong:

It took three tries for disgraced former prosecutor Mike Nifong to utter the words that three Duke lacrosse players falsely accused of rape were determined to hear him say. On Thursday, more than 16 months after beginning a disastrous prosecution of the former players, Nifong offered a complete and unqualified apology.

His first try was a non-apology apology. The day after the rape charges were dismissed:

Nifong issued a written statement apologizing "to the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect."

Still hadn't quite sunk in.

In June, Nifong offered a tearful apology to the families but said, "I think something happened in that bathroom" and "something happened to make everyone leave that scene very quickly."

The response enraged the players' attorneys, and left the mother of one player in tears.

Hmm, still a bit too much in denial and indulging in self-justification.

This time, Nifong admitted he was dead wrong:

"I agree with the attorney general's statement that there is no credible evidence that Mr. Seligmann, Mr. Finnerty or Mr. Evans committed any of the crimes for which they were indicted — or any other crimes against (the accuser) — during the party," Nifong said, adding that state prosecutors uncovered evidence he didn't have.

So close. He had it, but just had to throw in that bit about additional evidence. Evidence you didn't bother to look for, Nifong. Let's hear the apology:

"I have admitted on more than one occasion that I have made mistakes in the course of my prosecution of these cases," Nifong told the court. "For that, I sincerely apologize to Mr. Seligmann, Mr. Finnerty, Mr. Evans and their families." ( Chron.com)

Still sounds a little whiny to me. Will this apology take?

Defense attorney Joseph Cheshire called the previous apologies "far from sincere" and said the families would have to decide whether to accept the latest one. None of the three players was in court.

"I think it is a statement that has much more validity than any of the other so-called apologies he has attempted to make," Cheshire said after the hearing. ( Chron.com)

But apparently it was enough:

After listening to Nifong's first unqualified apology in the 16-month case, lawyers for the players dropped their request for sanctions, except for a criminal contempt charge brought by a judge. Those sanctions could have forced Nifong to pay some defense legal costs.

So what have we learned? Sometimes it is very hard to admit you're wrong. Even when the whole world knows it. Perhaps especially when the whole world knows it. If there was any single person in America who needed to be on his knees apologizing and begging for forgiveness for his misdeeds, it was Michael Nifong. The man tried to ruin the lives of three innocent young men for his own selfish gain. He brought trumped up rape charges against them and plowed right ahead even after it was obvious to the entire thinking world that the would-be victim was bonkers and her story had no credibility. He suppressed DNA evidence that pointed to the defendants' innocence. He persisted in justifying his pigheaded wrongdoing even after being booted off the case, losing his license to practice law and kicked out of office. Yet he still couldn't admit he was wrong, that he had wronged his victims and that he owed them a public apology, at the very least.

In light of the enormity of his misdeeds, the so-called full apology he finally uttered was weak tea indeed. But it was enough to satisfy his victims who, I am sure, are ready to put this whole sorry episode behind them. They just wanted a public admission from their tormentor that he was in the wrong and, having received that, were willing to drop the sanctions they had been pressing for. Fair enough.

What I have not heard from Nifong — and possibly because I haven't looked for it, so maybe he has done this already — is an apology to the citizens of Durham and of North Carolina for betraying his oath of office. We endow district attorneys with awesome powers. They can take away the freedom and even the lives of their fellow citizens. We expect prosecutors to use the power entrusted to them for the protection of the public. We expect them to act with restraint, with probity, without fear or favor, to see that justice is done. Nifong abused those power and brought not only himself, but the entire justice system into disrepute. He's got a lot more apologizing to do before his slate is clean ... if it ever will be.