I'm of the opinion that the NC government, and the Bar association, has known the truth about this guy since he was elected the first time, and like so many others, figured that as long as Nifong kept getting re-elected, that trumps any of the people he railroaded into the Slam. The only difference between this and all the other cases is that this time, Nifong had an independent eye watching the whole procedure. I have little doubt that Nifong tried to frame these three only because he has gotten away with it so many times before...
Makes you wonder about all the other local DAs across the US that are sheltered under the "Old Boy" network.