The Duke lacrosse rape charges were dropped Friday while I was stuck in traffic on I-95, but district attorney Mike Nifong is still pursuing other charges, baffling everyone:

A prosecutor’s decision to drop rape charges but keep other counts against three Duke University lacrosse players has left many legal experts – including some who had supported him – wondering what case he could have left.

Sexual offense and kidnapping charges remain against the defendants, but even some former backers of District Attorney Mike Nifong say the accuser may have lost her credibility for good after backing off a key allegation.

You think? The wheels are off the wagon. There’s no way Nifong is going to get a conviction. Even Richard Brodhead, the ever-cautious president of Duke, is now calling for Nifong to step down from the case:

In response to Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong’s decision Friday to drop charges of rape in the Duke lacrosse case, President Richard Brodhead questioned Nifong’s conduct and called for the district attorney to relieve himself of his duties in the case.

Brodhead said Nifong’s decisive public statements about the rape allegations and subsequent decision to drop the charge call into question the validity of the remaining charges that have been brought against three members of the 2005-2006 men’s lacrosse team–kidnapping and sexual offense.

“The district attorney should now put this case in the hands of an independent party, who can restore confidence in the fairness of the process,” Brodhead said in a statement Friday. “Further, Mr. Nifong has an obligation to explain to all of us his conduct in this matter.”