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.
Hiring strippers is legal.
He will end up leaving his wife to marry Nancy Grace.
If the Defense Attorney's are aggressive, every case that Nifong has prosecuted and that he won will be challenged. There was a similar instance in Oklahoma a few years back where a forensic pathologist was guilty of fabricrating evidence. Almost all of the cases she was involved in were reopened.
youre on the wrong site if youre up that late **whistle, whistle**
people are soft pedaling this.
HORSE HOCKEY I bet he engaged in this type of conduct throughout his career as a prosecutor.
How many OTHER cases was this done?
How many other cases was exculpatory evidence held back?
There are too many reporters giving the BS of "this one time".
All this "was one time only" BS is an attempt by Nifongs press pals to try and justify him keeping his law license.
Nifong should be disbarred.
(remember clinton was a good lawyer until he lied just that ONE time. Clinton was disbared)
Its cement-brained idiotic comments like this that give conservatives a bad name.
Nifong's got a natural calling. His hit first and ask questions later style would be a perfect fit. And he's got entre now. Nifong should make an excellent pimp. That'll be all that's left for him after those parents get done.
Valid point. I just can't help wondering how I would feel as the mom of one of these guys. I would want to strangle my son (and I do have one!) for hiring the girl, but that isn't in the same universe as the charges levied against them. The moms on 60 Minutes last night were much calmer and more articulate than I would have been.
Fact is he was with the surly crowd at midnight, girls that prostitute themselves and a group that was drinking. I've got NO problem with that. Just PLEASE belly up to the bar and recognize that if you run around with sluts, you'll probably be falsely accused. NOW, go to bed with the wife of your vows, raise a family, give a good example, and if your name is on the headlines because of some virtuous deed you''ve performed. REJOICE.
Actually, civil judgments can be "tolled", (executions-in-aid put on hold), until assets are found through a judgment debtor's exam OR the defendant comes into any money. In some states that judgment can be tolled for 21 years.
Boy you are one twisted individual. Blame the victims, eh?......................
Yeah!
Kinda like a president taking advantage of a young intern, and when caught
Yeah, write incoherent stuff! Make no sense! Say things that have no relevance to the issue! MORE COWBELL!
You are so screwed up on this it's laughable. The ho's operating in an illegal business have no legal recourse when their deals go bad. PIMPS protect LAWBREAKING HO's from their JOHNS. The girlies are the choice makers. They chose to engage in illegal acts without proper protection. It takes a loose screwed liberal to think ho's engaging in illegal acts deserve anything but what they get when they ho out without a pimp's protection. Beginning, middle and end of this bullshit.
The laws of the human condition may get rescinded in the degenerated, anything goes liberal's brain but not on the real street.
Typical do-goodism. That only encourages them. Makes the situation worse.
This has to be the understatement of the year! I think the kids' parents should sue him blind, if nothing else than to recoup the legal fees they've expended.
They would make the perfect couple.
I wish this board had an ignore feature.
Actually, if a hooker gets "raped", (dunno how possible that is, though), then she can always file suit in civil court for Breach Of Contract and Failure To Pay For Services Rendered.
You're right, his posts could use more cowbell!
Nifong would be an ideal AG for a Hillary! administration.
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