http://www.law.unc.edu/PDFs/06SpringNews.pdf
pg 17
Mike Nifong was sworn in as District Attorney for Durham County. He will inaugurate a family protection unit. [bold mine]
The Herald-Sun - Thursday, October 06, 2005 [excerpted, bold mine]
Originally published in:
The Herald-Sun
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Edition: Final
BY JOHN STEVENSON jstevenson@heraldsun.com
District Attorney Mike Nifong has a new plan he says should help Durham's growing number of abused women and children.
On Oct. 24, he will inaugurate what he calls a "family protection unit," headed by a veteran lawyer with years of experience in such issues: Jan Paul.
"Hopefully, this will be a signal that the DA's Office takes these matters seriously," Nifong told The Herald-Sun Wednesday. "We want victims to think, 'The DA's Office is looking out for me.' " .....
.....Paul has been an appeals referee for the N.C. Employment Security Commission since 1991. She also has been an attorney for the Durham County Guardian ad Litem Program*, which oversees the legal rights of children, and a clinical instructor at the Duke University School of Law Child Advocacy Clinic.
*Mmmm, who do we know in the Guardian ad Litem Program?
Nifong claims he has never been threatened by anyone he prosecuted. Conversely, he was once thanked by a convicted rapist.
"He came to see me after he got out of prison," said Nifong. "He told me his life was really out of control, and I made him face up to it. He said he was a better man as a result.
"I always tried to treat my defendants with respect," Nifong added. "Of everyone I've tried, I could count the monsters on one hand. Everyone else was a regular person who had an anger-management problem or just snapped somehow. I never thought it was my job to make them less than human. I think treating people with dignity is an important part of being a DA."
WRAL.com - News - Durham DA Blames His Office For Mistaken Dismissal Of Child Rape Case
Durham DA Blames His Office For Mistaken Dismissal Of Child Rape Case
District Attorney Insists Error Will Not Affect Case's Prosecution
POSTED: 4:31 pm EST January 16, 2006
UPDATED: 7:40 pm EST January 16, 2006
DURHAM, N.C. -- Durham County's district attorney says a clerical error is to blame for charges against an accused child rapist being dismissed by his office.
In February 2004, police arrested and charged Norman Brooks in the alleged molestation and rape of Bobby Parker's young daughter. But in September 2005, the charges against Brooks were dropped and the case was dismissed.
"This is clearly the fault of this office," said Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong.
The case was originally assigned to Assistant District Attorney Tracey Cline, who was also handling another case against Brooks that was considered to be much weaker than the sexual abuse case. The district attorney's office was planning to drop the weaker of the two cases.
"In the course of entering the dismissal, inadvertently the wrong number was placed on the dismissal," Nifong said.
Then, Cline went on medical leave, and Parker was told that his daughter's case would be reassigned to Assistant District Attorney Jan Paul.
But when Parker called Paul last week, he said she told him that she was not aware of the case....
....Nifong said Paul had been assigned to many cases, but Parker's daughter's case was not one of them.
"Unfortunately, we made a second mistake," Nifong said......
Reporter: Julia Lewis
OMG. That's terrible when you consider that man (the Father) and his family had to watch Nifong get reelected.
With Nifong doing tons of National Interviews and now a National News figure - why hasn't any of the media (or even the investigative programs like 48 hours) picked up on this and reported it. Why wasn't it done before the election?
Nifong really has a high opinion of himself, that much comes through in every statement he makes.