Nifong a Topic at State Bar Council (and Feds Decline to Act for Now)

Eyewitness News 11 ^ | 1/16/07

[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.

[Alia]

FreePaul, please take the "border" argument to the border threads. Seems this specific subject, Nifong, has gotten so much attention, that the "border bots" have just got to bring their border issues into it?

Please don't.

[TommyDale]

Ubuntu -- There is that misspelled word again!

[Tijeras_Slim]

"border bots"

Kinda makes you miss ol' Tabitha Soren. ;)

[Alia]

Your Post! Yes, and thank you!

[justshutupandtakeit]

"...if this were a case where some cops beat a minority, it would not matter if there was a conviction or if the matter was pre-trial." What a load of Bull. There are VERY few cases of that nature where the feds EVER got involved past a routine FBI investigation.

Of the 1,100 cases you reference how many ever got the Attorney General involved? ANY? If any, how many had such involvement prior to a trial? NONE would be my guess.

[JLS]

Nifong's intemperate remarks to the press about the case he was trying could be written off as lack of maturity or poor judgment, for which a reprimand might be in order.

You might be right, if in this was not blatant strategy to win an election which he was trailing by a large amount until he started pandering to a constituency to reverse his electoral prospects.

That makes what he did far far worse than poor judgement. His judgement was spot on. He succeeded. That is why he must be disbarred at a minimum. We can not have DAs in danger of losing elections running out and framing people to stay in office.

[JLS]

Nifong's intemperate remarks to the press about the case he was trying could be written off as lack of maturity or poor judgment, for which a reprimand might be in order.

You might be right, if in this was not blatant strategy to win an election which he was trailing by a large amount until he started pandering to a constituency to reverse his electoral prospects.

That makes what he did far far worse than poor judgement. His judgement was spot on. He succeeded. That is why he must be disbarred at a minimum. We can not have DAs in danger of losing elections running out and framing people to stay in office.

[justshutupandtakeit]

I did. Nothing there changes anything I have said.

[justshutupandtakeit]

So a request for an FBI investigation is an example of where I am wrong? LoL. More FEELINGS I see.

[Alia]

lol!

I had to first find out who she was:

MTV News Anchor and Political Commentator Tabitha Soren is, despite Commentator Tabitha Soren is, despite her young age, a seasoned veteran of America's politcal and media landscape.

lol..

[Enterprise]

"I did. Nothing there changes anything I have said."

Appropriate since you've said nothing anyway.

[Jezebelle]

Abuse of authority - using the color of government authority to violate the rights of an individual.

Congressman Jones first asked a federal commission on such matters - the Public Integrity Commission, I think - to review the matter to determine if the actions Nifong had purportedly taken rose to civil rights violation. Lawyers for the commission found that they did, so Jones' request to Conzales is not unfounded.

There is no logical reason why the DOJ can't undertake this investigation now, especially since Nifong is off the case and is facing serious charges from the state bar pertaining to his conduct in this case. Where there's smoke, there's fire, and nothing that the state bar can do addresses the criminality of Nifong's conduct beyond the context of Nifong's ability to practice law.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Actually, it was a FReeper who was banned for making every thread an abortion thead. :)

[Jezebelle]

It's irrelevant whether there is a case or not, as it pertains to violating the civil rights of the boys.

[Enterprise]

"Such issues are generally handled through STATE laws before the feds get involved."

Ok, explain how a request for an FBI investigation into civil rights violations is generally handled through the States first.

[Alia]

Tijeras_Slim, I had no idea.

Either Tabitha sounds not particular conducive to a thread's focus.

Admin Mod: I pinged you because due posts and "feelings", I was detecting a border-issues "thread swarm" on this Duke/Nifong thread.

my "Tabitha" sensors went into high alert...and reaction. (Tijeras: I used "Tabitha" in a sentence, properly? ;>)

[Verloona Ti]

There was a troll posting here a few years ago under the screen name Tabitha Soren. "Her" thing was to troll animal abuse threads and whine that people cared about animals but not aborted babies. Then it was pointed out that 'she' never once posted to abortion threads-only to nonabortion threads which she'd try to derail. After that 's/he' started posting to abortion threads and trying to convince other posters to support violence against abortion providers. "S/he' was banned soon thereafter. It was an obvious DU troll who just knew that if it tried hard enough, it could get the rednecks over at FR to support murdering abortion clinic personnel-instead, s/he was reported every time s/he tried to stir up threats.

[Alia]

Verloona, thank you very much for that concise information. Your description of Tabitha's behavior is perfectly applicable to others who post at FR.

[Enterprise]

"There are VERY few cases of that nature where the feds EVER got involved past a routine FBI investigation."

So? They nevertheless DID get involved early! I rest my case. NEXT!

[Jezebelle]

You don't have to be convicted in order for the feds to step in. There is no rule that says civil rights violations can only be investigated by the DOJ when the subject of the violations has been convicted of a crime. Violations of civil rights perpetrated under color of authority take place when government authority is abused in such a way that an individual's constitutional right(s) have been abridged.

There is also nothing that requires such violations only take place in the form of cops beating somebody beyond necessary force.