Posted on 01/15/2007 9:50:37 AM PST by freespirited
Forced by allegations of prosecutorial misconduct to recuse himself, the district attorney who drove the Duke lacrosse sexual-assault case could end up losing much more than the opportunity to try a case he still supports.
For Mike Nifong, the missteps of the past 10 months have the potential to end a career that started nearly 30 years ago.
"You don't easily recover from something like this," said James Coleman, a law professor at Duke University and a frequent Nifong critic. "That's what's so unfortunate about this. He had a career - a long career, a reputation of being an honest and fair prosecutor - and for some reason, his conduct in this case was inconsistent with that.
"It's just bizarre," he said. "This is the biggest case by far that he's handled, and he didn't do a very good job, and I think that's going to haunt him."
When Nifong asked the N.C. Attorney General's office Friday to take over the case of three lacrosse players accused of sexually assaulting a woman hired to strip at a team party, he was less than two weeks into his first full term as Durham County's elected district attorney.
Now he must defend himself against ethics charges that could lead to his disbarment. If N.C. Attorney General Roy Cooper dismisses the case against Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann - and legal experts have said that there appears to be little evidence to support the charges - their families might try to file a civil lawsuit against Nifong.
If and when he returns to the courtroom, Nifong will have to rebuild a reputation tainted by the vast attention generated by the lacrosse case.
"Nothing happens in a vacuum," said Garry Frank, a district attorney in four North Carolina counties and the president of the N.C. Conference of District Attorneys. "It's something that he and his office will have to work through. It will be a challenge for him."
The conference offered Nifong assistance in September - an offer that went unanswered. Frank said that Nifong appeared surprised in December that his colleagues were concerned about his handling of the case. They later formally called on Nifong to recuse himself.
"Folks that have to do the things we do on a day-to-day basis quickly learn to take good advice when you can get it," Frank said.
A more immediate concern for Nifong is the pending ethics charges that accuse him of making misleading and inflammatory comments about the lacrosse team, including calling them "nothing but a bunch of hooligans." A hearing on those charges is scheduled for May.
John Banzhaf, a law professor at George Washington University, thinks that more ethics charges are forthcoming. The director of a private lab has said that he and Nifong agreed to keep out of a report given to the defense results of DNA testing that found genetic material from several unknown men on the accuser's body and underwear, and found that none of the DNA matched that of the three indicted players.
While the defense was eventually given the test results, as required by state law, it wasn't until months later.
Joseph Kennedy, a law professor at the University of North Carolina, said that the accuser's Dec. 21 interview with an investigator, in which she changed several key details in her description of the attack, is also a concern.
Among the changes, the accuser offered a new timeline that put the attack outside of the apparent alibi window established by Seligmann's attorneys. She also said she could no longer be sure that she was penetrated vaginally by a penis, which could have helped Nifong explain to a jury why there was no DNA evidence.
"It's just troubling that ... nine months after the event, there's an interview and the interview reveals this fact, which minimizes the importance of the evidence they didn't turn over," Kennedy said.
As a prosecutor, Nifong enjoys broad but not absolute immunity from civil litigation, and the families of the indicted players have hinted that they plan to sue. Asked in an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes what she would say to Nifong if they met, Evans' mother said, "Mr. Nifong, you've picked on the wrong families ... and you will pay every day for the rest of your life."
Some of Nifong's harshest critics have also suggested that he face criminal charges, but Kennedy said that those charges "should only be reserved for the most egregious types of misconduct. And it's too early to say whether this might be one of those cases."
Nifong has no plans to resign and is intent on carrying on with cases as the district attorney in Durham County, said his attorney, David Freedman.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
"...he didn't do a very good job..."? Ya think? Saying someone didn't do a very good job implies, at least to me, a degree of sloppiness, indifference, errors of omission, possibly even stupidity. Nifong's behavior rises above that by far. He made, in order to salvage his election, calculated decisions to make inappropriate, prejudicial, and blatantly false statements about the defendants to the press; to decline to interview the lawyers of the defendants; and to withhold or conspire to have withheld exculpatory evidence.
Now, I'm not an attorney, nor do I play one on TV. But it sure seems like criminal behavior to me. I was delighted with the statements of the Moms on 60 Minutes last night, and I believe that Nifong has indeed messed with the wrong families. Disbarring should be the start. I agree with Tom D. that significant monetary recovery from Nifong is unlikely (blood, turnip, and all that). But the idea of attaching his future income -- from, for example, a book or movie deal (I wouldn't put it past Nifong) -- is a good one.
If I were one of the parents, I'd go hard after Dook. That's where the money is, and there was grievous injustice there, too. Fathead, Dook's chinless, pencilnecked, spineless President, shut down the lax team, effectively removed two defendants from enrollment, and allowed threatening behavior to take place on campus.
HORSE HOCKEY I bet he engaged in this type of conduct throughout his career as a prosecutor.
How many OTHER cases was this done?
Me too. I try to use a "self imposed" one. But it ain't easy. Ain't easy at all. LOL.
"Let's hope and pray it does. We do not need someone like him in power. Everything he did was to advance his own career at the expense of innocent people."
In my opinion the only thing that differentiates him from every other politician in this country is, he was stupid enough to shoot off his big fat mouth and got caught.
Democrat AND Republicans alike, there is rarely any difference once they get into power.
I would assume a law suit against the company that withheld the DNA evidence would be in order. I hope these young men get millions and millions from Duke, the DNA company and from the city of Durham. Mike Niphong belongs in jail but I doubt he will ever see the inside of a cell.
Strippers are not involved in an illegal business and they do have legal recourse. This one just happens to be a liar. Bad move!
>Unthinking comments like yours give conservatives a bad name.<
Is rovenstinez a conservative?
Nifong's behavior and aggressiveness ware ostensibly based on the idea that privileged white males should not expect preferential treatment under the law for their crimes. Now that he's on the hot seat, it will be interesting to see whether this privileged white male gets or requests any such treatment for his crimes.
If railroading innocent men into long prison sentences isn't
'egregious', then I don't know the meaning of the word.
How can you get more egregious than to ruin the lives and reputations of 3 boys so you can get the black vote on election day?
If there really were a Klan in SC Nifong would be tarred and feathered,and a perpetual cross burning in his yard.
The university is the deep pocket here. They ought to be first in line to be sued. I'd also name the Univ. president and the gang of 88; the trustees should think about voting indemnification for themselves.
So you support felony convictions, and decades in jail, for underage drinking and hiring a stripper?
"He should be forced to resign...."
Also, any money he gets from writing any sob story books should go the boys and their families to pay for all the legal costs and pain and suffering.
It happen in Texas as well. Not a thing happen to the DA.
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