http://washingtontimes.com/national/200701...10935-5609r.htm
The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com
Justice inquiry demanded on Duke rape charges
By Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published January 19, 2007
Did a North Carolina prosecutor, members of his staff, Durham police and a DNA testing laboratory conspire to violate the civil rights of three Duke University lacrosse players in bringing high-profile rape charges against them?
That is what Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, wants to know, calling on Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales this week to assign Justice Department attorneys and the FBI to find out.
"I have been following with great interest and deepening concern the prosecution by Durham County District Attorney Michael B. Nifong," Mr. King said in a terse letter to Mr. Gonzales. "I have done so not only because members of Collin Finerty's family are my constituents but because I have been accorded the privilege of representing all the citizens in this country and their interest in guaranteeing not only the appearance of justice but its actual implementation."
Mr. King said a review he conducted of documents and summaries of Mr. Nifong's investigation, along with discussions with other members of Congress, led to his call for the Justice Department probe.
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http://www.wilmingtonstar.com/apps/pbcs.dl...ORIAL/701190305
Article published Jan 19, 2007
Get prosecutors off botched cases
At last the Duke lacrosse case is in the hands of presumably responsible prosecutors.
N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper's office will decide whether there's any reason to prosecute three lacrosse players for anything - other than being male chauvinist jerks, which may be a disgrace, but isn't even a misdemeanor.
Nifong had publicly, angrily and confidently accused them of sexually assaulting one of two ecdysiasts they'd engaged for an evening of cultural enrichment. He called the players "hooligans." He said part of their motivation was racial bigotry.
It quickly turned out that Nifong's apparently strong case was based on ever-changing testimony, improper police work and the withholding of inconvenient evidence from the boys' high-priced lawyers.
Embarrassed by Nifong's behavior - and it isn't easy to embarrass North Carolina prosecutors - the State Bar accused him of improper conduct.
Even then, nobody could take the case away from him. State law says only a DA can ask for a special prosecutor.
But with his fellow lawyers breathing down his neck and his law license in possible jeopardy, Nifong had a change of heart. He asked the AG to take the case.