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.
I'm wondering if they really didn't mean the SBI, rather than the FBI.
I saw that guy on the news. He looks rather alien to me, as in from outer space.
Not a legal eagle...but the Feds will not take a position so long as there is a criminal case pending. They won't jeopardize due process.
They will also wait to see what action the state bar -- and the state -- might take. They have primary jurisdiction.
At some point, though, the case will be dropped. And if Nifong's ass isn't put through a legal wringer by all concerned, it will be a gross miscarriage of justice.
Channel 11 WTVD actually had video of the
guys wheeling Nifong's Boxcar of Fiction on
some luggage carrier. They had close-ups
of the labels and contents of the boxes.
In one box there were neatly ordered yellow
manila file folders all lined up and labeled.
A good eye could see one tagged "Mangum's
statement". Another box looked like the thick
white 3-ring binders from DNA Security.
FBI or SBI- check with other news stories later.
"It was so cold today that the Duke accuser changed her story again and said it was the ice hockey team."
LOL! Funny but true....
I read some of his comments. That is his job.
The Gang of 88 now strikes back as the Gang of 87.
http://www.concerneddukefaculty.org/
It was 88, but some of the 88 left Duke or had the good taste and sense to keep a low profile on this if they could not nut up and apologize. They rounded up enough to by Professor Johnson's count get back to 87.
You? Radical? :P
You're too kind. I say we put him in stocks for a week or so for public humiliation and torment, THEN we execute. Now doesn't that sound a bit more fun? :)
He wrote this:
The ad thanked "the students speaking individually and...the protesters making collective noise." We do not endorse every demonstration that took place at the time. We appreciate the efforts of those who used the attention the incident generated to raise issues of discrimination and violence.
When the actual quote was:
(The Group of 88 statement’s exact text (which vanished from Duke’s servers some time ago, along with the list of signatories) is even more specific in its declaration there was no reason to withhold an outcry:)
We’re turning up the volume in a moment when some of the most vulnerable among us are being asked to quiet down while we wait. To the students speaking individually and to the protestors making collective noise, thank you for not waiting and for making yourselves heard.
Talk about an edit to CYA.
The Gang of 88 now strikes back as the Gang of 87.
http://www.concerneddukefaculty.org/
It was 88, but some of the 88 left Duke or had the good taste and sense to keep a low profile on this if they could not nut up and apologize. They rounded up enough to by Professor Johnson's count get back to 87.
Professor Johnson:
http://durhamwonderland.blogspot.com/
Calls them "Concerned (about being sued)Duke Faculty." Every day this mess has a new twist.
What Nifong has done is wholly unacceptable. However it is an North Carolina matter not federal issue.
I'm not a lawyer, but it was my understanding that there are federal laws against malicious prosecution. If so, then would this not be a proper matter for the feds to investigate?
See Joan's #163.
Thanks, Joan.
The May 11 hearing is with the state bar. What we're talking about is a criminal action against Nifong. All the state bar can do is act within the scope of their authority, which is limited to actions against Nifong's bar license.
And they're doing for the political power behind racism and classism.
The most important legal aspect of this case is that there was no crime at all. Everything after that is a perversion of that single, unassailable truth.
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.