http://www.newsobserver.com/1185/story/536271.html
Published: Jan 26, 2007 12:30 AM
Modified: Jan 26, 2007 03:24 AM
Professors say Nifong mishandled Duke lacrosse case
Anne Blythe, Staff Writer
DURHAM - This was not a crowd in which you would expect to find an ardent supporter of District Attorney Mike Nifong.
It was Duke University, after all, the school attended by the three former lacrosse players charged in the sexual assault case that has stirred torrents of criticism.
Three law professors on a Duke panel Thursday afternoon dissected the actions of Nifong over the past 10 months, and they concluded that he is a prosecutor headed for serious sanctions by the State Bar.
"If everything's established, we're looking at a significant suspension," said Tom Metzloff, a Duke law professor who also serves on the bar's ethics committee, which had nothing to do with the charges brought against Nifong.
The bar's Disciplinary Hearing Commission will weigh the ethical and misconduct charges. On Wednesday, less than a month after the bar accused Nifong of making inflammatory public statements about the case, additional charges were filed accusing him of withholding DNA evidence favorable to the defendants and lying repeatedly about it to judges and the bar.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1169785864...=googlenews_wsj
Duke President Urged Caution on Scandal
January 26, 2007; Page B6
In "The Michael Nifong Scandal" (editorial page, January 11), Dorothy Rabinowitz raises compelling criticisms of how the Durham, N.C. district attorney has handled the prosecution of the three Duke University students. The commentary also criticized Duke President Richard Broadhead for not speaking to the fundamental principle of a presumption of innocence until some seven months after the incident. President Brodhead, in his first public statement in the days following the alleged incident, urged that the students must be presumed innocent until proven otherwise -- an assertion he has made clearly and repeatedly in numerous subsequent communications to faculty, students, alumni and others.
As he told "60 Minutes: in August, ". . . my view is that the DA's case will be on trial as much as our players will be on trial." His statements have been reported widely. His comment with "60 Minutes" is still on its website, just as many of his other statements remain available on Duke's Web site.
John F. Burness
Senior Vice President
Public Affairs and Government Relations
Duke University
Durham, S.C.