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Nifong Admits: No Crime in Lacrosse Case
Atlanta Journal Constitution (AP) ^ | 7/26/07 | AARON BEARD

Posted on 07/26/2007 8:54:27 AM PDT by beaureguard

DURHAM, N.C. — Disgraced former prosecutor Mike Nifong acknowledged Thursday there is "no credible evidence" that three Duke lacrosse players committed any of the crimes he accused them of more than a year ago, offering for the first time a complete and unqualified apology.

"We all need to heal," Nifong said. "It is my hope we can start this process today."

Nifong's apology came as a judge began considering whether to hold the former Durham County district attorney in criminal contempt of court for his handling of the case.

Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III has already concluded there is probable cause to believe Nifong "willfully and intentionally made false statements of material fact" to the court during a hearing in the case last fall. If he finds Nifong in contempt, the now-disbarred former prosecutor could face up to 30 days in jail.

The case started with a woman's allegations that she was raped at a March 2006 lacrosse team party where she was hired as a stripper. Nifong won indictments against three team members, but the charges were later dropped, and state Attorney General Roy Cooper went a step farther by declaring the three men innocent victims of Nifong's "tragic rush to accuse."

On Thursday, Nifong apologized.

"I agree with state Attorney General there is no credible evidence that (the players) ... committed any of the crimes of which they were indicted," he said.

Attorneys for the three falsely accused players, who had previously rejected Nifong's attempts to make amends, accepted his apology.

"For many months, we have sought a real and meaningful apology from Mr. Nifong, for the pain he has caused these families and these young men, the entire Duke lacrosse team, the state of North Carolina and others," said attorney Joseph Cheshire.

"We are very appreciative that Mr. Nifong decided to do that today," he said. "We don't deny it was a difficult thing."

The men's attorneys had asked Smith to hold Nifong in contempt for telling the court he had provided the defense complete results from DNA testing when he had not.

Nifong learned in April 2006 the laboratory found genetic material from multiple males on and about the accuser, but none from the lacrosse players. He didn't provide that information to the defense until October, and only then in the form of nearly 2,000 pages of raw DNA test data.

A disciplinary hearing committee of the state bar stripped Nifong of his law license last month after finding he had committed more than two dozen violations of the state's rules of professional conduct during the case.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: North Carolina
KEYWORDS: donutwatch; duke; dukelax; lacrosse; nifong; nifongism; partisanwitchhunt; thecrucible
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To: beaureguard

I did a word search for “sorry” and “I apologize” and did not find them in this article. If Nifong said either of those things, you would expect that would have been the “money quote”.

I saw some blather about healing and moving on, but no “I’m sorry”.


41 posted on 07/26/2007 9:24:21 AM PDT by gridlock (War is Not the Answer, but Peace is Not an Option)
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To: beaureguard
Nifong Admits: No Crime in Lacrosse Case

Nifong the crime is in the mirror.

42 posted on 07/26/2007 9:24:36 AM PDT by bmwcyle (Satan is working both sides of the street in World Socialism and World Courts.)
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To: beaureguard
The players civil lawyers must be giddy today.

How soon will Nifong claim bankruptcy?

43 posted on 07/26/2007 9:27:18 AM PDT by TexasCajun
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To: definitelynotaliberal
“I agree with state Attorney General there is no credible evidence that (the players) ... committed any of the crimes FOR WHICH *I* INDICTED THEM,” he said.

Much better. Or how about: "I'm sorry I lied to the court. I'm sorry I withheld vital exculpatory evidence. I'm sorry I tried to railroad these young men and send them to prison in order to further my career."

As far as I can see, Mr. Nifong hasn't yet come close to an apology, and I can't see why anyone "accepts" his weaseling.
44 posted on 07/26/2007 9:30:08 AM PDT by xenophiles
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To: ripley

What you said


45 posted on 07/26/2007 9:30:40 AM PDT by notpoliticallycorewrecked (California : home of the fruits, nuts and flakes.)
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To: Tijeras_Slim
Nifong Admits: No Crime in Lacrosse Case

What, malicious prosecution isn't a crime anymore?

46 posted on 07/26/2007 9:32:00 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (I never consented to live in the Camp of the Saints.)
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To: beaureguard
We all need to heal," Nifong said. "It is my hope we can start this process today."

You serving jail time will go a long way towards starting the healing process.

47 posted on 07/26/2007 9:34:18 AM PDT by dfwgator (The University of Florida - Still Championship U)
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To: beaureguard
"I agree with state Attorney General there is no credible evidence that (the players) ... committed any of the crimes of which they were indicted," he said.

Doesn't sound like an apology to me. Where's his admission of why he did all this?

48 posted on 07/26/2007 9:34:44 AM PDT by Cementjungle
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To: Biblebelter
Nifong is what he is, and that is individual who was an opportunist without scruples. It ain’t so much about Nifong as it those who allowed Nifong to be Nifong. Duke University and much of the Durham community are much bigger disgraces than a single individual like Nifong. Common sense and decency are checks to a boy like Nifong going off the reservation. But there was little common sense or decency to keep this case from being the firestorm it was. All that Duke and Durham had to offer was liberal zealotry which was only fuel to the fire of injustice that came down on some innocent young men. You are right. Thank God the lacrosse players came from families who possessed the financial resources to take on the likes of Nifong, the "white-hating" community and the liberal stink-hole Duke University and its cesspool "politically correct" faculty.
49 posted on 07/26/2007 9:38:15 AM PDT by daviscupper
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To: beaureguard
"We all need to heal," Nifong said. "It is my hope we can start this process today."

Healing a cancer can not begin until the cancer is removed from the system. Nifong and those like him are a cancer on our legal system.

While disbarring Nifong would be a beginning, it is probably insufficient to deter others in his position from attempting what he did. A little Old Testament justice, where Nifong suffers at least as much as the Duke men and their families have, is certainly in order.

As noted by others above, there were crimes in the Duke lacrosse case. They were malicious prosecution, obstruction of justice, withholding evidence, and perhaps even perjury, and they were all committed by Nifong. Justice will not be served unless and until Nifong becomes the convicted felon that he claimed the Duke men were.

50 posted on 07/26/2007 9:39:56 AM PDT by dez (Giving resident visas to illegals is like giving car thieves legal title to the cars they steal)
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To: beaureguard

How about the gang of 88. When are these POC going to apologize?


51 posted on 07/26/2007 9:41:19 AM PDT by Signalman
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To: beaureguard
No Crime in Lacrosse Case

Wrong! Besides NiFong's crimes, there are a few more:

1. Lying to Police Officers

2. Filing False Charges

3. Conspiracy

4. Lying to Prosecutors

5. Possession of Illegal Narcotics

6. Prostitution

I am sure there are many, many more.

52 posted on 07/26/2007 9:42:08 AM PDT by SkyPilot
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To: beaureguard

I hope that he never again is involved in the justice system...Nor can he “teach” others.....


53 posted on 07/26/2007 9:42:20 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: xenophiles

Remember his original ‘apology’? “To the extent that ......” What a poop chute!


54 posted on 07/26/2007 9:42:27 AM PDT by definitelynotaliberal
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To: beaureguard
"We all need to heal," Nifong said. "It is my hope we can start this process today."

Aw shucks, Mr. Nifong, it's been so long. No need to rush the healing now.

We need to allow a little interval for YOU to squirm and for US to enjoy the schadenfreude

.

55 posted on 07/26/2007 9:44:51 AM PDT by SergeiRachmaninov
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To: beaureguard
Disgraced former prosecutor Mike Nifong acknowledged Thursday there is "no credible evidence" that three Duke lacrosse players committed any of the crimes he accused them of

That does not jive with the title, because that bimbo sure commited acrime of falsely filing a police report, and the ensuing Nifonging was criminal as well.

56 posted on 07/26/2007 9:45:57 AM PDT by Clam Digger
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To: stm
The prosecutors are supposed to be the good guys. It’s the defense lawyers that are the slimy ones that pull the kind of stunts he did.

Frequently I find this not to be the case. You can say what you want about criminal defense attorneys, but no matter what they do, they have this: everyone accused of a crime has an unalienable right to competent, aggressive, and capable legal representation. Criminal defense attorneys make it possible for that right to be observed. Government lawyers, on the other hand, can't even say that for themselves. They are all equally as crooked as any other lawyer but have little to nothing positive to say for themselves.
57 posted on 07/26/2007 9:49:02 AM PDT by JamesP81 (Keep your friends close; keep your enemies at optimal engagement range)
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To: beaureguard

Call this an apology? To me it’s an admission of guilt.


58 posted on 07/26/2007 9:49:14 AM PDT by Rudder
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To: beaureguard

If those Duke students who were wrongly accused had not had the advantage of families who were able to provide a top notch defense, but instead had been assigned a county public pretender (err, ‘defender’) for their case, they would already have been urged to take the plea deal which most likely would have been a combination of prison time, many years of probation during which they could be violated for any reason at all, and of course the obligatory inclusion in the states sex offender database for the rest of their natural lives.

And Nifong would have pointed to those prosecutions as a demonstration of his ‘dedication to seeing justice done’.

It is an unfortunate but true saying that when it comes to being charged with a serious crime, if you have money (and make no mistake I am not criticizing the Duke players or their families one iota), you get justice. But if you don’t have money, you get “just ice”.

The system is irrevocably broken when stuff like this happens. We need an oversight board that watches and monitors prosecutors at the county, state and federal level for just this kind of abuse.

Hello Patrick Fitzfong? Hello Johnny ‘Dear Friend’ Sutton?

This means you.


59 posted on 07/26/2007 9:52:49 AM PDT by mkjessup (Jan 20, 2009 - "We Don't Know. Where Rudy Went. Just Glad He's Not. The President. Burma Shave.")
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To: beaureguard
Nifong, the Narcissistic Nut, has been very busy transferring the ownership of his property (house, vacation home, luxury car, stock investments) to friends and family. The media isn't bothering to stay on this angle, neither.

Why?

I thinks it's because Nife the Nut-Nong and those within the judicial system and the media know he's getting ready to get his butt sued big time in civil court.

I hope the players and their families are able to recover all their legal fees and associated costs, and if Snake-Fong is left penniless, so be it. If they can garnish a person's paycheck for back taxes and back child support, then the courts should allow garnishment of his income even Social Security, etc. until his death if that is what it takes to repay the damage to those families of the wrongfully accused.

60 posted on 07/26/2007 9:53:57 AM PDT by RSmithOpt (Liberalism: Highway to Hell)
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