Facing a hailstorm of criticism for pressing sexual assault charges against three men he now agrees were wrongly accused, the Durham County district attorney was before a hearing on Friday where his lawyers argued for dismissal of the most serious ethics charge against him. The charge accuses the prosecutor, Michael B. Nifong, of failing to properly disclose DNA reports to defense lawyers in the Duke lacrosse rape case.
A hearing panel ruled that all the ethics charges, including one that Mr. Nifong had made inflammatory public comments, would be heard at a four-day trial in June. Mr. Nifong could face penalties up to disbarment. His appearance here came two days after the North Carolina attorney general, Roy A. Cooper, dismissed sexual offense and kidnapping charges against three former Duke lacrosse players, blaming a false accuser and a rogue prosecutor for a miscarriage of justice. Mr. Coopers office had spent three months reinvestigating the case after Mr. Nifong recused himself to fight the ethics charges.
Mr. Nifong apologized on Thursday in a statement, saying, To the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect, I apologize to the three students that were wrongly accused.
On Friday, he said, My statement yesterday was in plain language. Lips pursed, surrounded by reporters and cameras before and after the one-hour preliminary hearing, he declined to comment further.
His lawyer, David B. Freedman, said: I dont know how much more you can apologize when you say I apologize to the three players who were wrongly accused. We would hope people would understand that apology by Mr. Nifong. It takes a lot to admit he was wrong.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11131 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A very limited apology. Without any explanation of your motivations. Doesn't really seem like an apology to me. Seems more like a ritual you were forced to go through.
#2
If he had resigned, and turned in his law license, that would have been a real apology.
As it is, the NC Bar Association is very likely to disbar him. That will make it really difficult for him to continue as DA.
#4
They should do to his reputation what he did to those three kids. After theere doen they should concentrate on one Patrick Fitzgerald for making up a case out of NOTHING. Then they should focus on the current scandal-de jour of firing U.S. Attroneys, which includes an anal examination of the wholesale firing by the Clintonistas.
#5
For all of youse guys that are constantly dissin' laywers, this looks like there are soem that can still carry a broom and clean up the mess left by others. Disbarment should be step 1, follow ons should be lawsuits by all the students. This POS will be done before its all over. Now if it happened in Taxachusetts or the other Washington, he would probably be elected king. or something.
#6
For those of us who diss lawyers (and hey, I'm a doc), let's remember and thank the six lawyers who worked on behalf of the defendants -- they demonstrated why every accused person needs a competent defense.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/17/2007 18:46 Comments ||
Top||
#7
SW - very true. It's also true that they attacked the very facts the accusations were based on. Much easier when your client is actually...innocent.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2007 18:50 Comments ||
Top||
Lawyers for three former Duke lacrosse players are considering suing the district attorney who pursued rape and sexual assault charges against the three men, who were declared innocent this week by the state attorney general. Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong's issued a carefully worded apology to the players on Thursday, but it may not have been enough to prevent a lawsuit.
So far, attorneys for David Evans, Reade Seligmann, and Collin Finnerty have not said whether they plan a civil action against Nifong, but they have not ruled it out. Prosecutors generally have immunity for what they do inside the courtroom, but experts said that protection probably doesn't cover some of Nifong's more questionable actions in his handling of the case - such as calling the lacrosse players "a bunch of hooligans" in one of several interviews deemed unethical by the state bar. "I think their chances of success suing Mr. Nifong are reasonably good, despite what we call prosecutorial immunity," said John Banzhaf, a professor at the George Washington University School of Law.
North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper threw out the case against the three young men on Wednesday, pronounced them innocent and delivered a withering attack on Nifong, portraying him as a "rogue" prosecutor guilty of "overreaching." Cooper said Nifong rushed the case, failed to verify the accuser's allegations and pressed on despite the warning signs.
As always, anyone wanting the entire story, blow-by-blow, has to visit KC Johnson's blog.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/17/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11125 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I'm glad I live in Raleigh, rather than in Durham. The Durham taxpayers will very likely be on the hook for any judgments against Nifong. Of course, the voters in Durham elected this moron, so they deserve what they get.
#2
I'd just wish the Duke faculty "group of 88" and the Administration could be personally liable for their hateful, irresponsible, and agenda-opportunistic actions in this case. Disgusting
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2007 9:07 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Good for them but hasn't Nifong committed some kind of crime?
#4
Forget about sueing. Why don't they jail that worthless piece of table dancing kak that caused all the misery and trouble? How about a horse whipping followed by a life sentence?
#6
Re the comment about Durham taxpayers: If shitforbrains ever admits he did this falsification with premeditation there may be grounds for the county to claim they are exempt since he committed fraud. this was not accidental, but intentional, IMHO.
Probably not related to the RoP, but I thought y'all would appreciate the technique ...
... I'm sure I've seen two or three movies with this scene ...
A man due to be extradited to Spain for fraud staged a dramatic jailbreak in helicopter hijacked by two accomplices. Two men forced the pilot to land in a prison courtyard on Sunday where they picked up the French prisoner, the BBC reported.
The accomplices paid for a helicopter ride at an airstrip near the eastern city of Sint-Truiden saying they were tourists from Marseilles in southern France, the pilot Eric Mathieu told Belgian television. After takeoff, they produced a pistol and hand grenade, ordering Mathieu to fly to Lantin prison outside nearby Liege. "They pointed a revolver at my forehead," Mathieu told RTBF television. "The prison yard was so small, at first I refused to land there, but they threatened to kill me, so I had to do it."
Mathieu said he touched down while about 200 prisoners were exercising in the yard. One climbed on board while his accomplices threw tear gas canisters into the crowd. The helicopter then landed less than a kilometer (half a mile) from the prison, where the prisoner and his accomplices drove away in waiting car. RTL-TVI identified the fugitive as Frenchman Eric Ferdinand, who was in pretrial detention on charges of fraud and theft. RTBF said he had previously escaped from prisons in France and Spain.
The excited hydrogen in this Spitzer Space Telescope image of Stephan's Quintet suggests interactions that should not be occurring under standard assumptions of astronomers.
Now we know why there weren't charges filed, eh? Apparently, speed limits, like seatbelts, are for the Little People
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2007 16:22 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[11129 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The state trooper-driven sport utility vehicle was in the left lane with its emergency lights flashing when a pickup tried to get out of its way. Instead, it set off a chain reaction that resulted in the crash.
Does this mean they're liable for all damages? Cue Lawyers...
#2
and where was he going that was such an emergency? A chance for facetime during the Rutgers/Imus apologia stop. *Retch*
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2007 16:39 Comments ||
Top||
#3
This whole incident has stunk from day one. If Corzine's speeding triggered this disaster he should face jail time. Each new revelation only further entrenches a "do as I say and not as I do" message.
#5
I remember laughing years ago when I first heard the joke that the most dangerous place in the world to stand was between Jesse Jackson and a TV camera. In this case, Corzine actually did endanger lives to get his mug on TV.
#6
don't discount Chuck Schumer running you down for TV camera face time - serious TV whore.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/17/2007 18:26 Comments ||
Top||
#7
For those of you not from NJ, both the Garden State Pkwy & the Turnpike are race tracks. The rule of thumb appears to be maintain a lane, don't exceed 80 and you're ok. I've gone through many a speed trap on both of those roads doing 80. Weaving is the one they get you for.
Still no surprises in this story, I've been doing 80 and have had state vehicles of all sorts pass me like I'm standing still, especially troopers.
#8
In my previous post I should have mentioned that I'm referring to off hours travel, otherwise you'll be lucky to do 30 or 40 on some stretches if you move at all.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Lawyers for three former Duke lacrosse players are considering suing the district attorney who pursued rape and sexual assault charges against the three men, who were declared innocent this week by the state attorney general. Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong's issued a carefully worded apology to the players on Thursday, but it may not have been enough to prevent a lawsuit.
The excited hydrogen in this Spitzer Space Telescope image of Stephan's Quintet suggests interactions that should not be occurring under standard assumptions of astronomers.
