Posted on 12/29/2006 10:07:41 PM PST by rawhide
Dec. 29, 2006 — In yet another moral blow to Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong, the North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys called for the prosecutor to step down from the Duke lacrosse case.
The group, which represents district attorneys from across North Carolina, said in a statement that "it is in the interest of justice and the effective administration of criminal justice that Mr. Nifong immediately withdraw and recuse himself from the prosecution."
"It's extraordinarily unusual and it means a great deal," said Joshua Marquis, a district attorney in Clatsop County, Ore.
The district attorney group also called for the case to be reassigned and handed over to "another prosecutorial authority."
The statement was prompted by charges of ethics violations against Nifong filed Thursday by the North Carolina bar. Those allegations accuse Nifong of making inappropriate comments about the case in a series of press interviews early in the proceedings.
"As prosecutors, we do not try our cases in the media. We do not file charges frivolously," Marquis, who is active in the National District Attorneys Association, told ABC News.
"I do not know what the merit of the charges are, but Mr. Nifong has not brought respect to our profession," Marquis said. "Some of his actions have brought great disrepute on the profession of prosecution."
Under North Carolina state law, there is no rule requiring Nifong to recuse himself from the case, even though he has been charged with ethics violations. But Nifong's critics — including defense attorneys for the three indicted Duke lacrosse players — say Nifong should step down because the ethics charges create a glaring and unavoidable conflict of interest. A prosecutor, they argue, cannot make fair and independent decisions when he himself is in legal hot water.
"My opinion is that this crystallizes the conflict of interest," Thomas Metzloff, a member of the North Carolina bar and professor at Duke Law School, told ABC News.
No sooner than three months from now, Nifong will stand trial before a panel drawn from the bar's disciplinary hearing commission. If that panel finds Nifong guilty of misconduct, he would be subject to punishment ranging from private admonishment to disbarment.
I love the internet :)
Nifong's Lament (Hat tip to Aretha Franklin)
One of these mornings the chain is gonna break
But up until then, yeah, I'm gonna take all I can take
Chain, chain, chain, chain, chain, chain
Chain, chain, chain, chain of fools
nothing new, but the fact that it made the Ledger is big.
Thanks! It had better. Because I'm wondering if this was the first time Nifong and/or Meehan ever withheld exculpatory evidence. And I'll betcha some defense attoneys are wondering, too.
I have said that all along. It is scary as hell.
If Cash Michaels had one lick of common sense he would take a different approach.
It doesn't take a corrupt system to ruin lives. How many plead out because they cannot afford to fight?
Cash and the other race baiters look at this through the eyes of race whores.
Not one of them has stepped back to look at the big picture. They see through the prism of hatred and resentment.
"It doesn't take a corrupt system to ruin lives. How many plead out because they cannot afford to fight?"
In NC a person who can't make bail remains in jail for many months. When he finally sees the public defender he is told that if he cops a plea to a lesser offense he'll be let off with time served. If the accused maintains his innocence, and doesn't want to admit to any crime, he is warned of the possibility of being found guilty at trial and facing prison time. That's the way it's done. [Not just in NC]
In NC a person who can't make bail remains in jail for many months. When he finally sees the public defender he is told that if he cops a plea to a lesser offense he'll be let off with time served. If the accused maintains his innocence, and doesn't want to admit to any crime, he is warned of the possibility of being found guilty at trial and facing prison time. That's the way it's done. [Not just in NC]
Nifong's big f-up was in thinking these young men would do the same thing. You don't try to ruin the name of a decent family.
I've done that, although I didn't spend a couple hours reading it all - just enough to get a sense of what she's all about after seeing her yelling at a DPD officer, shaking her finger in his face, demanding an immediate FBI investigation into the case while lecturing him in the usual black outrage/self-righteous indignation ranting tone. This happened at the NCCU forum held for the DA candidates back in April.
Sadam yesterday, Nifing tomorrow.
Liefong is beginning to remind me of Saddam...........
Hey, we can hope, can't we?
I think what they fear is legislative action to enact more oversight, such as empowering the AG to act.
LOL! These children had excess resources they waste on hireing a dancing whore for their enertainment, and if this dancing whore was not a crazy whore, she may not of been the only one finishing the "dance"!
I agree that the rape charge was out of bounds, and Nifong is a jerk. I just do not like these guys protrayed as innocent children. These guys reming me of the rich students in the movie "Scent of a woman".
I agree with you to some extent, and have made similar statements, but I also think NC is exceptional in its lack of oversight coupled with very broad prosecutorial powers of the state's DAs. I think the other DAs fear losing the fullness of those unrestrained powers.
Shamieka needs to go, too. It was very inappropriate and unprofessional for her to write that.
I hadn't thought so either until this. I was simply unaware of it. But the fact that it was a much better kept secret doesn't mean it isn't as bad, and may perhaps mean it's even worse.
The judge now assigned to the case is not the original judge. Judge Smith has not shown any of the Nifong favoritism previously demonstrated by Judge Stephens, whom Nifong was sort of a protegé to.
Perhaps it was supposed to be "morale"?
Dey likes da plantation. It comfy and dey get lotsa good free eats. S'okay wid dem if dey massuhs gots $3000 threads and dem limmozeens to ride dey bitches roun town in.
I agree with your overall theme, but not all of your remedy. There is a need for SOME prosecutorial immunity. Without it, the number of criminal prosecutions in legitimate cases will go way down and the people will suffer more criminal acts against them. But it definitely must be completely reviewed and amended.
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