Posted on 01/16/2007 10:03:31 AM PST by freespirited
This week Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong could be slapped with more charges related to his handling of the Duke Lacrosse case.
This week the State Bar Council will be holding its quarterly meetings in Raleigh. During this time, the agency could add ethics charges against the Durham district attorney.
Nifong recused himself from the Duke Lacrosse case shortly after the state bar filed an ethics complaint against him last month. He's accused of misconduct for statements he made to the media last spring.
In a letter obtained by Eyewitness News, defense attorney, Joe Cheshire requested to meet with Nifong in March about the statements.
"I do not understand why you will reportedly speak to the media in such certain, condemning terms before all the evidence is in, but you will not have the courtesy to meet or even speak with a representative of someone you have publicly condemned," Cheshire stated in the letter.
Nifong could also face additional charges for withholding DNA evidence that was favorable to the accused players. Evidence that is now in the hands of the state's Attorney General.
"We accept these cases with our eyes wide open to the evidence, but with blinders on for all other distractions," Roy Cooper said.
The State Bar Council meets today.
The council will decide this spring if his public comments about the case were a violation of the professional rules of conduct. Nifong's ethics meeting is scheduled for May.
No Federal Probe
The U.S. Attorney General's office has responded to Congressman Walter Jones' request for a federal probe of the Duke Lacrosse Case.
In a letter delivered Thursday, Alberto Gonzales' office wrote that it would be, "Premature to initiate a federal investigation pending a criminal trial."
This means the Attorney General will not be getting involved in the case at this time.
What a frog's ass. If this were a case of cops beating a minority, the feds would't think twice about it being "pending a criminal trial" and would be on it like Boxer on Rice. Hypocritical toad. PTUH!
Nifong should be facing criminal charges that equate to the number of years his intended victims would have faced in jail.
I'd prefer execution for a Public Office holder who abuses his authority like this, but then I'm a radical of sorts.
Anything in your local media regarding 60 Minutes?
You know what they call 100 North Carolina DAs on the bottom of the ocean? A good start!
"for civil cases? all the time. Especially, in probate matters. "
So what does it take to prove malpractice? Do lawyers pay malpractice insurance premiums?
I would guess that most malpractice cases are over mistreatment of a client. Lawyers, like a lot of people, think the ultimate betrayal is screwing someone who paid you money to do right by them.
They give those who abuse the power of their office way too much latitude on grounds that they toil for what the legal profession considers slave wages (Nifong makes "only" about 138K). It's really sickening when you think about it.
The critera varies from state to state but generally the test is a "but for the lawyer's actions the client would have prevailed." It is a pretty high test. You have to prove you would have succeeded but for this lawyers conduct.
As for insurance, I don't know of any state that requires malpractice insurance. Most claims that are made on malpractice confuse losing the case screwing up. Remember 1/2 of all civil clients in trial in the courthouse every day are destined to leave unhappy. Malpractice claims generally don't get far.
In this case Nifong would more accuratly be subject to a malicious prosecution claim. (particularly for intentionally witholding exculpatory evidence.)
Of course the state bar may have a victim compensation fund the duke players could make claims against...
A very useful "out" for the state is to "decline to prosecute". It keeps them from having to admit there was no case in the first damn place. I don't know whether that will work here, though, since it's such a high-profile thing and the defendants' families seem to have the resources to push for an actual dismissal.
What do you expect him to do? To date, there have been no violations of Federal law that I am aware of (i.e. Civil Rights violation of due process rights) that the Feds can act on. Only if these guys were unjustly convicted could the Feds be empowered to act.
As a Conservative, I'm not real anxious to see the Feds jumping into state legal issues before there is even a trial.
If there is some Federal violation that I'm not aware of, please point it out.
"If there is some Federal violation that I'm not aware of, please point it out."
1 ) Six off-duty drunken white cops beat up a black cook in Raleigh, kicked him in the head and shouted racial epithets at him. If that happened with the LAPD, the FBI would be all over the case. (Rodney King South?)
2 ) The NBBP made death threats against defendants in a court. (Reverse the colors : If the KKK made threats against defendants in a court, Gonzales would be in town personally with a presser.)
3 ) Witnesses connected to the case have been arrested (Elmostafa, and many of the associates of the AV); coincidence, or witness intimidation? That's a federal
crime.
4 ) The whole town of Durham reeks of control by racketeering cabals. It has for years. $35 million in federal grant money recently disappeared--no accounting. Where's the money?
5 ) Judges in Durham are suspected of being part of the problem (payoffs). That's for the Public Integrity section of the Justice Dept. to look into.
And there's more. Speedy trial. Due process. Little matters of Constitutioal guarantees of protection for defendants, which don't seem to apply in NC.
These people are too dense to comprehend the fact that there IS NO CASE!!
So when did the cops beat these guys up?
Please tell me what Federal law has been violated at this point that would give the Justice Department jurisdiction to act?
And why are so many Conservatives here anxious to see the Feds step into a state court matter without appropriate reason?
What is the Federal violation in the Duke LAX case? These guys have not been convicted of anything --- they are simply charged.
They were deprived of a timely trial by an impartial jury, for one thing. Is it not the duty of the Federal Government to defend the Constitutional rights of it's citizens?
It is a simple thing...their Civil Rights were violated. The law doesn't say they have to be black to have civil rights.
"So when did the cops beat these guys up?"
They certainly beat up the cook in Raleigh and arrested the Somali immigrant as part of a frame-up.
And Olateyo is certainly involved with Victor Bout, the Russian arms (and probably drug) smuggler;and the Central Bank of Gambia (a country where a lot of the smuggling airlines operate from); and Brian Taylor is certainly the stepston of Ambulai Johnson, the Interior Minister of Liberia.
And that's a lot of strange people to be turning up in Durham, NC.
And the CIA certainly flies its ghost air force out of NC; and those planes don't always return empty.
And the government for years sure has tried not to investigate Durham.
They KNOW there is no case.
They are keeping the charges festering intentionally.
It is leverage to negotiate a deal with the defendants so they drop their civil rights violations claims. Happens more times than people care to admit. (reporters don't cover the small cases where it happens because they don't want to lose access. So reporters keep the dirty secrets. see mark foley and the miami herald)
They are not dense, they are playing the real world game of prosecutors.
One more time. Alberto Gonzales is a waste of space. The worst pick Bush ever made. He is shameful.
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