Posted on 07/28/2006 3:30:04 PM PDT by STARWISE
Mike Nifong is trying to reassure voters that he's the man for the job a day after a potential challenger said he won't pursue the district attorney job.
Nifong admitted Friday that there's some justification to criticism about how he handled the media with the Duke case.
"My handling of the media coverage of this case has occasioned substantial criticism, some of which is undoubtedly justified," Nifong said during a half-hour press conference. "I both underestimated the level of media attention this case would draw and misjudged the effect that my words would have.
(Excerpt) Read more at wral.com ...
He is beyond contemptible and would have been a great commissar in the old Soviet Union...
<<"There were things we hoped to have in terms of evidence that we ended up not having," >>
Well, doesn't a DA wait until he has the evidence before he indicts?
Isn't that an admission of incompetence or rush to judgment right there?
And since Nifong gets to talk about the case, despite the gag order, can the defense now talk about it?
After all, Nifong DID get DNA evidence; the evidence cleared the players. It showed the woman accuser didn't have sex with any of them.
End of story.
There's nothing to be gained by continuing the criminal case -- as you say, we know the ending. Worst case is a hung jury. The stripper/whore, Nifong, the black community, Jesse (I'll pay for your college) Jackson ... all are better served by leaving the doubt of guilt out there, rather than having the truth exposed in public court proceedings.
A civil case? If you were an attorney, would you take this case on a contingency fee?
Now, a civil case brought by the three Duke players against the college, Nifong personally, the city, the stripper/whore? Hmmmm. Set up a fund and I'll contribute.
"There's nothing to be gained by continuing the criminal case -- as you say, we know the ending. Worst case is a hung jury."
Hung jury may be the best case. In the OJ trial the jurors were only those who had not read or heard extensively about the case--i.e., no regular newspaper readers, or TV news watchers, etc.
In this case, probably the jurors will be similiar.
Hence, DNA will confuse them. The issue of whether technicians
can alter time-stamped photos will confuse them.
All they will know is that "something happened in that house"; and the pressure on any holdouts (with the black panthers sitting in the audience) to "go along" will be intense.
In any impartial jurisdiction, where race was not a factor, this case would be over in five minutes.
But the defendants in this case are not going to be allowed a jury of their peers; nor are they going to be allowed a change of venue.
Saying the trial must be in Durham means that it must have a jury already inclined to convict, even if only to "send a message".
The judge in Durham will not be impartial, but biased
and intentionally so on the side of the prosecution.
He will be Nifong's pick and a crony.
That's why in the modern American judicial system, the "day in court" no longer means a fair hearing before an impartial judge and jury; it means a stacked judge and jury, and a lapdog press.
You are making me very nervous. May a change of venue would be possible, hopefully. I see that as the only way out if this thing does every get to trial.
The best case would be a unanimous finding of "not guilty". Would that actually that happen? Probably not, and for the reasons you cite.
But if you're saying that a hung jury is the best we should hope for if it goes that far? I'd like to disagree, but the OJ case says it's likely.
"You are making me very nervous."
I don't see a change of venue being allowed by any Durham judge.
But Nifong's and Durham's corruption may become so apparent that he has to be removed from the case. Even the black community may catch on to how he has been using them.
And the Durham crowd can't be happy that he has brought so much national attention down on their corrupt activities.
"And the Durham crowd can't be happy that he has brought so much national attention down on their corrupt activities."
They stand to lose their entire empire of prostitution and drugs, which operated out of the limelight for more than a decade, if the SBI and the FBI and other agencies start poking around. All that could have continued except for Nifong's forcing this rape case through instead of dropping it.
He may still drop it for just that reason--to make sure the Feds and others don't get so involved that the Durham crowd loses everything.
NC House Speaker questioned on ethics
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/29/AR2005122901304.html
Scandal Arrives Before New State Lottery
House Speaker and Top Aide Under Investigation for Possible Corruption in Measure's Passage
By Mark Johnson
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, December 30, 2005; Page A02
RALEIGH, N.C. -- When North Carolina's legislature relented from its decades-long opposition to a state lottery this summer, preachers and conservative lawmakers warned that wherever gambling goes, scandal follows.
Even they never predicted it would arrive so fast.
Then, without using inflammatory language, he should have had his press conference and limited it to assure the community that the case was in good hands and to asking potential witnesses to come forward. What a putz.
Jim Black is one of the most corrupt politicians my state has ever seen. I despise the man. Almost everything he is involved with is tainted somehow by corruption.
Lewis Cheek only stepped up to the plate in order to lend a "nuance" of gravitas to Nifong. Nifong is now playing it up before the cameras. If Nifong were serious he'd be wearing Saucony's. ;>
Just remember in the case of a HUNG JURY Nifong, can recharge them and have another trial and another Durham Jury (or Durham Solution) as Nifong called it.
Bingo.
#56/57 BUMPping
He could, yes. But would he?
Once all the details of this case are aired in court and the individual votes of the hung jury are made public, everyone will see what's going on. My guess is that the public reaction will be, "Why was this case ever brought to trial to begin with?"
He's defyed logic up to this point.
He doesn't care what anyone outside of Durham thinks of him.
He has the "Durham Solution" according to him
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.