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Nifong Made Call Too Late
by Ruth Sheehan
Here's something I was beginning to think I'd NEVER say about Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong:
He did the right thing.
By turning over the miserable Duke lacrosse case to the Attorney General's office for handling by a special prosecutor, he did the right thing.
But he did so more than seven months later than he should have.
And here's a stunner: He did it to save his own hide.
Let's review, in brief.
Nifong used the case to win an election.
He refused to meet defense attorneys, including one who appears to have solid proof that his client was elsewhere when the alleged assault (in the original version) took place.
He appears to have tried to withhold evidence.
And the first time his office met with the accuser was this month. (Producing a whole new version of events -- argh!)
But when Nifong finally decided to turn over the case to the special prosecutor (something some of us have been calling for since June), it wasn't an acknowledgment of any mistakes or misdeeds.
Nope. He was feeling heat from the State Bar, and a chorus of fellow DAs, regarding alleged ethical violations. (Finally, we might see the wussy Bar take some action against a prosecutor. Stay tuned.)
So forgive us, Mike, if we don't stand up and applaud.
Unfortunately, Nifong is only the first on a playlist of unappealing characters and bad actors in this case.
There are the investigators who at the very least appear to have gone along with Nifong's efforts to mold this case.
There are the accused, young men who I believe are innocent of the crimes with which they are charged but whose peer group's behavior on the night in question was appalling. Ye shall be known by the company you keep. I know -- I work with journalists, and I'm married to a politician.
Strippers and racial slurs?
If I found out one of my sons was involved in such a scene, I'd jerk a knot in his neck.
Their parents, in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" Sunday night, bristled, justifiably, with fury at the treatment of their sons.
But one came off as mighty arrogant as well. Nifong messed with the "wrong families" indeed.
There is the accuser, who can't seem to get her story straight.
She will never be punished sufficiently if her allegations are as bogus as they appear.
Some observers of this case are turning their blood lust on this case to Duke President Richard Brodhead. Watch out, Dick.
And, of course, there are the 88 Duke professors who came out so forcefully against the accused.
Even in the face of powerful evidence that the attack did not occur as originally described, a number of them have not retreated, much to the outrage of the blogosphere.
So, any good guys?
Let's see.
There's Elmo, the cab driver whose testimony cleared Reade Seligmann in the accuser's first version of events.
Oh, and the accuser's newborn baby who, it's safe to say, will never play Duke lacrosse.