11:42 pm District Attorney Mike Nifong conceded long ago that he had become accustomed to receiving nasty mail about his handling of the Duke lacrosse sex-offense case, but now even his assistants have been badgered with invective by a New York law firm that wants Nifong ousted from his job.

Anton J. Borovina of the Melville, N.Y., firm Borovina and Marullo wrote Durham's assistant prosecutors this month, saying that if they had any sense of decency and honor, they would ask their boss to resign.

Attached was a letter to Nifong himself, calling him a "corrupt and morally bankrupt prosecutor" and a "low-life, a racist and a despicable human being." The letter asked Nifong to resign as district attorney for alleged "fraud and deception" and "gross prosecutorial misconduct" in hiswork on the lacrosse case, which he recently handed off to two special prosecutors appointed by the state attorney general.

Assistant Durham prosecutors contacted by The Herald-Sun on Friday said they ignored Borovina's message.

"Durham County District Attorney Michael Nifong said he plans to reinstate unrelated misdemeanor charges against some lacrosse players at Duke who had agreed to stay out of trouble in return for eventual dismissal of their cases.

Team captain David Evans was charged in August with possession or consumption of beer or wine on a public street and a noise violation in January, said Assistant Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline. Evans lived at the house where the alleged rape took place, and alcohol was provided to underage teammates, Nifong said."

Didn't the NTO contribute to the media feeding frenzy?