Posted on 06/19/2007 10:40:14 AM PDT by Enchante
DURHAM, N.C. - A judge suspended District Attorney Mike Nifong effective immediately Tuesday after learning the prosecutor disbarred for his handling of the Duke lacrosse rape case intended to stay in office for another month.
The sheriff immediately stripped Nifong of his badge and the keys to his office.
There is probable cause to believe that Nifong "has engaged in willful misconduct in office and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, which brings the office into disrepute," Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson wrote in his order.
Durham County Sheriff Worth Hill went to Nifong's house with a deputy to serve the order Tuesday morning.
"We took his keys and his badge that gave him access to the building," Hill said. "We'll make arrangements to help him get his personal belongings later."
Candy Clark, Nifong's legal assistant, said the one case he was handling was being reassigned.
Later Tuesday, state lawmakers were scheduled to take up — and expected to pass — a bill that would allow Gov. Mike Easley to immediately remove Nifong from office.
Nifong was disbarred Saturday for breaking more than two dozen rules of professional conduct in his handling of the Duke case, in which three lacrosse players were falsely accused of rape last year. He had said in a letter issued Monday that he would leave office July 13.
That departure date wasn't soon enough for Hudson. He had said late Monday that he would order the sheriff to prevent Nifong from carrying out any duties of the district attorney.
A disciplinary committee of the North Carolina State Bar concluded Saturday that Nifong had lied to the court, made inflammatory statements about the three indicted players and their teammates, and withheld critical DNA evidence from defense attorneys.
The governor had said Monday he would immediately remove Nifong if he could. There was no word on whom Easley will chose to replace Nifong, who has worked in the district attorney's office since 1978 and was appointed prosecutor in 2005.
"You are given a lot of power and you can destroy a reputation in moments with just a few words," said Easley, himself a former prosecutor. "This was much more than a mistake."
Also Monday, Duke University announced it had reached an undisclosed financial settlement with the three former lacrosse players, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty and Dave Evans. Duke suspended them after they were charged, canceled the team's season and forced their coach to resign.
"We welcomed their exoneration and deeply regret the difficult year they and their families have had to endure," Duke said in a statement announcing the settlement.
The players' families racked up millions of dollars of legal bills in their defense, and appear likely to file a lawsuit against Nifong.
The players said in a joint statement they hoped the agreement would "begin to bring the Duke family back together again."
"The events of the last year tore the Duke community apart, and forcibly separated us from the university we love," they said. "We were the victims of a rogue prosecutor concerned only with winning an election."
Dick Ellis, a spokesman for the state Administrative Office of the Courts, said Nifong will still be eligible for his full retirement benefits — a pension and health care — that he accrued while working as a state employee for nearly 30 years.
But because he served fewer than five years as district attorney, he is not vested in a more lucrative retirement system for judges, prosecutors and the director of the courts office.
___
Associated Press writer Margaret Lillard in Raleigh, N.C., contributed to this report.
Interesting. Although, as much as The Fong deserves what he’s getting, I wonder what’s in this bill that the legislature is getting ready to pass to send up to Gov. Weasley. They can’t be simply giving him the power to remove any DA.
It’ll also be interesting to see who Weasley picks to replace The Fong.
BTW, here in Durham, things are hot, sticky, smoggy, and quiet. The local “community leaders” whose race-pimp votes were the cause of all this have left The Fong to twist slowly in the muggy breeze while they run for cover.
}:-)4
I still say they should build a whipping post and give him a good flogging in the public square.
Terminate the Duke 88. They also played a significant role in bringing disrepute to Duke University.
‘But because he served fewer than five years as district attorney, he is not vested in a more lucrative retirement system for judges, prosecutors and the director of the courts office. ‘
Have a nice decade fighting in civil court Mr Nifong.
Here’s hoping you show up in court wearing that ridiculous housecoast....
That was the point of the whole thing. He desperately needed to get re-elected to get the fat retirement benefits. That's the reason he went after the lacrosse players.
"They have taken of his buttons off and cut his stripes away, and they're hanging ... in the morning."
-- "Danny Deever"
‘That was the point of the whole thing. He desperately needed to get re-elected to get the fat retirement benefits. That’s the reason he went after the lacrosse players.’
I know. This man almost imprisoned for decades three young men just so he qualified for a higher percentage of retirement pay....unbelievable.
if these had been blacks that were being railroaded, they'd have been there before the indictment was read out, just like they would be if there ever were 'disenfranchised voters' you hear the DOJ rumbling instantly.
We KNEW through the info that their lawyers leaked that one of them was seen blocks away on a video camera at an atm when the "rape" was supposedly happening, and we knew this about 2 days after their arrests but over a year and there was no word EVER from the FBI or DOJ.
I want to know why!
From what I have read elsewhere it gives the governor the power to remove any DA who is disbarred.
I think we know where that money will be going in the end.
I’d love to hear Nifong’s personal feelings about Crystal Mangum now.
The North Carolina DA Mike Nifong merely did what almost every Democrat politician does, he pandered to blacks to get their votes.
The basic cause is that most blacks vote strictly along racist lines. What is best for all Americans holds no attraction. Whoever promises to do more for blacks will receive black votes.
In today’s politically correct world, that makes whites racists.
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