More connections - Superior Court Judge Ronald Stephens, who presided over the indictments of Seligmann and Finnerty and who also unsealed the McFayden search warrant, was the DA at the time of the 1992 investigation into the police prostitution ring.
Quite the chummy cirle ...
April 28, 2005
About 120 people jammed a Durham County courtroom Wednesday to watch Jim Hardin Jr. take an oath to don the robes and leave behind his 11-year post as the Durham district attorney.
Humor played a major role in the ceremony, in which Hardin also handed over the reins of his former office to new District Attorney Mike Nifong.
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Hardin held his hand to a Bible aside his wife as Superior Court Judge Ron Stephens swore him in as a special Superior Court judge. Stephens, who held the same post himself, said Hardin should plan on traveling quite a bit in his new role.
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Hardin's gubernatorial appointment to the judgeship is for five years. Nifong, his most veteran assistant, was appointed by Gov. Mike Easley to become Durham's interim DA. Nifong will be subject to election next year if he chooses to run.
http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:sMRv0VlZtxMJ:www.mikenifong.com/newsarticles.php+Ronald+Stephens+durham+-lacrosse+hardin+nifong&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=1&client=firefox-a
In the course of his career as a prosecutor, Nifong has worked for three different District Attorneys, serving as Chief Assistant under both Ronald L. Stephens and James E. Hardin, Jr., both of whom now serve as Superior Court Judges. He was appointed District Attorney for Durham by Governor Mike Easley on April 18, 2005, and was sworn into that position on April 27, 2005.
http://www.ncdistrictattorney.org/mikenifong/your_district_attorney.htm