Friday, December 29 : Closed to commenting, but resume discussion of this case at Haunt Me In My Dreams…
Thursday, December 28 @ 6:13 p.m.: The North Carolina State Bar has filed ethic charges against Mike Nifong.
Thursday, December 28: KC Johnson, “Duke blogger” and history professor, penned an article for Inside Higher Ed chastising 88 members of Duke’s faculty for their hypocrisy to date.
KC included a statement I also included in a column I wrote last week, which is unpublished because it needs to be updated (emphasis added):
Over the last nine months, Mike Nifong has coupled demagogic appeals to prejudices based on class and race with a habit of making public charges unsubstantiated by material in his own files. Meanwhile, he overrode standard procedures (ordering police to show the accuser a lineup confined to suspects; refusing to meet with defense attorneys to consider exculpatory evidence; concealing DNA test results) and mocked due process. In one of his most outrageous lines, he mused, “One would wonder why one needs an attorney if one was not charged and had not done anything wrong.”
A prosecutor about to charge men with forcible rape wonders why such men need an attorney even if they didn’t nothing wrong? For a reminder of Nifong’s other boneheaded statements, see Scottsboro, NYT, and Hauntings, and keep scrolling.
In other news, 400 complaints have been filed against Nifong…
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The next hearing in the Duke case is scheduled for February 5, 2007, and I plan to be there to witness what likely will be rogue Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong’s last stand.
I predict that at the hearing, he’ll drop the remaining charges — kidnapping and sexual offense — against Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann, and David Evans.
Last Friday, Nifong dropped the first-degree forcible rape charge against the men not because the stripper-accuser said she wasn’t sure if she was penetrated by a male “sex organ” but because Brian Meehan, disgraced DNA “expert,” testified that he found no DNA matches between the men and the stripper-accuser. Nifong had no choice but to drop the rape charge.
I also predict that given Nifong’s and Meehan’s conspiracy to hide exculpatory evidence from the defense, Nifong’s career prosecuting cases will end in early 2007.
In the event Nifong does try to bring this case to trial in the spring, I suspect he won’t get very far because the illegal and unconstitutional photo line-up identification will be thrown out.
Mainstream media reporters and bloggers have written numerous Duke case-related articles since last Friday, and The Johnsville News is the place to go for a daily round-up of links.
One story stands out. When left-leaning, left-coasters at the Los Angeles Times (free reg. req.) tell a white prosecutor — who’s going after “privileged” lacrosse-playing, private university-attending white men for violating and brutalizing an “oppressed” black woman stripping to feed her kids — that “maybe” it’s time to drop all charges against them, you know Nifong is doomed.
The Duke case will go down in the history books as one of the most egregious examples of prosecutorial misconduct of the century, notwithstanding the attendant historic (and exaggerated) white-masters-raping-black-slaves meme and the “hateful” stereotype of black women as “hypersexual beings.” (See Lynne Duke on Duke)
Crow meat is not particularly tasty, or so I’ve heard, so I thought I’d pass along to Nifong a recipe for crow stew to make it easier to swallow.
Duke bloggers: Crystal Mess, LieStoppers, John in Carolina, Durham-in-Wonderland, Right Angles, Friends of Duke…
Other links: Earl Ofari Hutchinson – “Durham, North Carolina District Attorney Mike Nifong should do the right thing, cut his losses and drop the remaining charges of kidnapping and sexual assault against the three Duke University lacrosse players.”
Must-read article by Stuart Taylor and blogger KC Johnson (Wall Street Journal): “Black leaders–including Durham Mayor Bill Bell, the appallingly demagogic North Carolina NAACP and others–should know better. So should the powerful, identity-politics-obsessed hard left of Duke’s own faculty, 88 of whom issued a statement in April saying “thank you” to protesters who had branded the players rapists. And so should the media, most of which gleefully joined the clamor last spring.”
Sidebar — I’m quoted in “Duke rape case unravels.”
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Excellent article today in the Wall St. Journal by Stuart Taylor and KC Johnson :
link
A Dirty Game
The accuser’s responses demonstrated her unreliability in ways too numerous to detail here. For one, she picked four as rapists. For another, the only player she twice identified with 100% certainty as attending the party could prove he was in Raleigh that night. . .
When he went to the grand jury, Mr. Nifong knew that the DNA results were inconsistent with the rape allegation. But he pressed ahead with the charge until the defense exposed his efforts to conceal the forensic evidence.
Then he abruptly changed his theory of the crime.
The case is now unraveling so rapidly as to be ridiculed on “Saturday Night Live.” Mr. Nifong is on his way to being disbarred, unless North Carolina’s legal establishment wants to be held up to national scorn.
He faces lawsuits and at least a remote risk of federal criminal investigation. As for Durham’s black leaders, and many in the media, and much of Duke’s faculty, history will mark them down as enablers of abusive, dishonest law enforcement tactics.
Given that DAs all over the country manipulate and hide exculpatory evidence and are sometimes caught doing so with no punishment, I don’t expect much.
Once again I’ll state, this is a great time to examine the criminal [in]justice system, but like it always is, people will be willfully ignorant of what happens but will highlight a case like this because of some benefit and that benefit ISN’T justice.
Start with the situation in Tulia, TX and see what has happened to the DA in that city.
Possibly more skullduggery :
Police found another fingernail in Evan’s bedroom in the house; it may not have been listed originallyit was not submitted originally for testing with the NC SBI; it was only submitted for testing on May 4–after the other tests had come back negative–and only to their favorite private lab, DNASI (the lab to which Nifong, Himan, and Gottlieb visited together TWICE–very unusual in itself, that these three would take time out to visit the lab, and all go together).
Ergo rumors abound about a possible attempt to create ‘fake’ evidence; just rumors, I’m sure; but the defense apparently was warned that an attempt to “fix” the DNA results might take place.
If any of that is true, it rises to a level far beyond merely withholding evidence.
Perhaps this will be of some help when you attend the Nifong appearance.
Mark Twain’s advice for good manners at a funeral
Do not criticize the person in whose honor the entertainment is given.
Make no remarks about his equipment. If the handles are plated, it is best to seem to not observe it.
If the odor of the flowers is too oppressive for your comfort, remember that they were not brought there for you, and that the person for whom they were brought suffers no inconvenience from their presence.
Listen, with as intense an expression of attention as you can command, to the official statement of the character and history of the person in whose honor the entertainment is given; and if these statistics should seem to fail to tally with the facts, in places, do not nudge your neighbor, or press your foot upon his toes, or manifest, by any other sign, your awareness that taffy is being distributed.
If the official hopes expressed concerning the person in whose honor the entertainment is given are known by you to be oversized, let it pass — do not interrupt.
At the moving passages, be moved — but only according to the degree of your intimacy with the parties giving the entertainment, or with the party in whose honor the entertainment is given. Where a blood relation sobs, an intimate friend should choke up, a distant acquaintance should sigh, a stranger should merely fumble sympathetically with his handkerchief. Where the occasion is military, the emotions should be graded according to military rank, the highest officer present taking precedence in emotional violence, and the rest modifying their feelings according to their position in the service.
Do not bring your dog.
Helio, must one adhere to the following: “Do not criticize the person in whose honor the entertainment is given”?
Dear LaShawn,
If I am in the state, Superbowl is the 4th and I may not be in NC. I’ll be there too and would love to take you out to dinner. Son is senior so he and I am hoping we can get tatercon to come up to the Real Blue Heaven and go out. I’ll try to get tickets for the Duke UNC game for you, it’s on the 7th. You might as well stay over and see REAL basketball. I am afraid the wrong team might win. I really think you won’t have to make the trip; it will be over before the hearing.
Kemp
As shown by my posts on the subject, I think Nifong is an incompetent ass, but my point of view hardened a great deal when Greta Van Susteren did almost an entire show the same day the rape charges were dropped. There were 5 prosecutors on there and La Shawn, you know they don’t routinely criticize their fellow prosecutors, but in this case they made an exception. Jeannine Piro opined that Nifong was at best incompetent and at worst “something more sinister”. One of the prosecutors apparently was more in favor of a little number in tar and feathers!
Nifong is a dangerous and incompetent troll and should be booted from office sooner rather than later. He should also be held criminally and/or civilly liable for the egregious harm he has done to the victims in this case: 3 young men whose lives have been blown into smithereens. Will they be able to regain their lives? Maybe. At what cost? Hard to say.
Heliotrope – you are a treasure! I know I comment on your comments all the time in most admiring terms but what could possibly be MORE appropriate than quoting that rascal Mark Twain!? Only you!
Here is the part that truly amazes me.
On Fox News yesterday they had one of their ultra-liberal former-prosecutor types on. She was going on and on about how, now that the rape charges were dropped, THE PROSPECUTION COULD STILL “WIN” THIS THING because DNA would not come up in the trial.
I mean, my God, she talked about it as if the Prosecution were trying to win a football game. Did the idea of THE TRUTH or JUSTICE ever enter her mind?
When prosecutors in criminal cases begin to think in terms of what can I do to win this thing, despite the facts and the truth, for their own personal egos, then we are all in trouble.
Everyone seems to be giving the “victim” – ahem, here a pass. Yeah Nifong is a troll, but the accuser brought up these false charges to begin with.
She should face prison time for what she has done, but I understand that NC offers only a slap on the wrist for a false police report.
What is to keep any vindictive woman from utterly ruining a man’s life if she knows that there will be so little punishment if it is found she is lying?
Let’s say I am a successful businessman and I end a relationship with a woman. She is angry. To get back at me, she goes to the police and files rape charges. Say maybe she even got a friend of hers to bash her about a bit so she looks beat up. She has access to plenty of things with my DNA on them so she can spread that about to.
So anyway, the whole thing is a lie and my life and business are ruined. Yet, if and when it is discovered she made the whole thing up she gets a small fine and community service?
Where is the justice in that?
#11 Bill Mitchell reminds us that Crystal should be held to some sort of account.
Crystal has two children growing and one in the incubator waiting for its debut.
She is a low-life. Supposedly, she is academically talented. But she lacks the talent for making sensible decisions. She is a sexual doormat and apparently self medicates her pangs of conscience.
Three children are the “reward” for her life choices. In my view, they are the true “victims.” Just because their mama is an alley cat does not mean that they have to be condemned to her form of nurture. Breeding and dropping babies is not magic.
Those kids deserve to have a responsible parent. Crystal does not appear to qualify.
Duke engineering professor Michael Gustafson (note that he is not a part of the liberal arts faculty) on how the faculty have treated the defendants according to the needs of political correctness:
We have removed any safeguards we’ve learned against stereotyping, against judging people by the color of their skin or the (perceived) content of their wallet, against acting on hearsay and innuendo and misdirection and falsehoods. We have formed a dark blue wall of institutional silence; we have closed Pandora’s box now that all the evils have made it into the universe; we have transformed students from individual men to archetypes—to “perfect offenders†and “hooligansâ€â€”and refused to keep their personhood as a central component of all this. We have taken Reade, and Collin, and Dave, and posterized them into “White Male Athlete Privilege,†and we have sought to punish that accordingly.
“….am hoping we can get tatercon to come up to the Real Blue Heaven ….” Kemp, at 7
Huh? That small bandbox? That crumbling edifice in the midst of all the others constituting “The Gothic Rockpile” seven miles east of The Southern Part of Heaven?
‘Course, if you do snare extra tickets, I might come for the pleasure of yelling “GO TO H—, DOOK!!!” loudest when the place goes quiet after a Wayne Ellington three pointer…..
Maybe we could at least agree to sneer together if your son can spot and point out some of the “Gang of 88″ faculty members!!
I’m hoping that someone, either in the Psych field, or perhaps another rape victim can help me out here. When CGM’s pregnancy was announced, even more warning bells started ringing in my head. I know people react differently in situations and that given CGM’s past and choice of occupation that her reaction to supposedly being brutally raped and attacked (note the supposedly, i have no belief in her story at all)is to have more sex and end up pregnant, but as a rape survivor i was uncomfortable for months having men within 10 feet of me, even my father and my boyfriend at the time. Several women in support groups that I have belonged to have ended up even getting divorced because of the trauma sex represents to them. Is her reaction normal?
Once all of the other charges are dropped, Nifong should be disbarred and CGM should be arrested immediately.
What is the definition of ‘kidnapping’ in North Carolina?
Nifong is way too quiet right now. I think he has tricks up his sleeve. He is playing for total stakes right now. If he loses, this could cost him in civil court as well as federal civil rights court. He is going to make one more push to try and recaptrure this case, at least so he has the cover that the evil white boyz were guilty but only got off on a technicality.
Tatercon,
I’ll work on it, but you have to be a gentleman if you all win, which is a possibility. I will make sure that if you should yell at the game you get a nice cop to remove you. Note, this year the Robertson Scholars will not be allowed to sit in the Duke Student section, or wait for tickets. Last year their rudeness almost caused a riot, so no UNC-CH student in the Duke section this year. Hoping we can get KC a ticket too.
Kemp
Breaking :
“The North Carolina State Bar filed an ethics complaint Thursday against Duke lacrosse prosecutor Mike Nifong, accusing him of breaking four rules of professional conduct when speaking to the reporters about the sensational case. “
According to FOX News, the NC state bar association has files ethics complaints against Nifong.
If this pans out, could this be the trickle before the dam bursts?
To all,
OK I am not losing my mind and my sources are right,
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20061228/D8MA4PG00.html
He has 20 days to respond, the takes him to Jan 17th the bar disciplinary committee meets from Jan 16-18, he has to have a trial on the charges. The committee will send his complaint to a trial, I have no idea how long that takes, but he is TOAST.
Kemp
Lashawn are you in for the Duke UNC game? need to know, email me.
La Shawn, for accuracy’s sake, it’s the North Carolina State Bar that has filed the ethics proceedings against Nifong, not the NC Bar Association. Easily confused, but they’re two different organizations. The State Bar is the body authorized by statute to investigate, hold hearings and discipline NC attorneys. The Bar Association offers multiple services to our state’s attorneys, ranging from CLE to group insurance discounts to social networking, the annual meeting at the beach or in Asheville, etc.
Paying dues to the State Bar is mandatory. Joining the Bar Association is voluntary. Most of us join both….
TaterCon
PS: If Kempx is really serious about the Carolina-Dook game in Feb. after the hearing, I’m game. We’ll have to pop over to Allen & Son Barbecue near Chapel Hill so you’ll see why NC barbecue debates have cropped up in your Duke Hoax Case comments…
Thanks. Actually, I typed that in the first time. Can’t remember why I changed it… – Admin
Nifong this, Nifong that.
The accuser is the Devil here. And this Devil cannot testify in court to these charges under oath. Right now she is guilty in NC only of Filing a False Police Report which is punishable by a slap on the wrist.
BUT, if she testifies under oath in a court of law to these charges, then that is perjury and makes her a two-time felon.
That means she can go up for a long time – poor baby. She will NEVER testify.
Now back to Nifong. This was his plan all along. Use this case to win the election then have the unstable accuser back out at the end.
Nifong can then thow up his hands and say, “hey, I tried but she is unstable and afraid for her safety from roaming bands of rich white boys so we must regrettably drop the case…”
Unfortunately for Nifong, in order to keep the case going throughout the election, he needed to lie to us, to the judge and to the defense.
As is usually the case, the cover-up is what gets you.
Those ethics charges against Nifong give my faith in the American justice system a boost. I still do not have a whole lot of sympathy for men whose idea of fun is holding a drinking party and leering at a woman taking off her clothes. That said, they didn’t deserve all this trouble.
In response to post #24,
Good post, but I will have to fault Nifong more than the accuser. Both are corrupt, but Nifong works for the state and is HIRED to represent truth. He is paid by the people.
I agree with post #17. Lashawn has been on the money regarding this case and finally I see the light at the end of the tunnel, which is Nifong’s glory days are over with.
Nifong should look deep within and ask himself, “what caused me to want ruin the lives of 3 people who I didn’t even know? Is my career that important”?
I hope he now realizes what a jerk he is.
181 paragraphs, of which 166 detail things Nifong shouldn’t have said, to whom he said ‘em and when he said ‘em.
As our ex-chief justice of the NC Supreme Court (and a former district attorney himself) said to the N&O, this is truly extraordinary — to see the State Bar come out with such a proceeding against a DA prior to the trial ….
Last night, the N&O posted the State Bar’s press release that explained what it has done and what it isn’t (yet) doing, due to the pre-trial circumstances. It’s not on the N&O site anymore — wish it was, though. It drives home a point I’ve been making recently — the State Bar is proceeding with “measured certainty” and, in my mind, at the appropriate pace.
TaterCon
“Nifong this, Nifong that.
“The accuser is the Devil here. And this Devil cannot testify in court to these charges under oath. Right now she is guilty in NC only of Filing a False Police Report which is punishable by a slap on the wrist.”
(Bill Mitchell)
Yes and no Bill, the reason I believe that Nifong is the worst of all possible characters in this is that HE was the responsible party.
He was the one who manipulated the line-up, made inflammatory statements to the media and brought charges in a case the local Police Dept didn’t think there was one.
The accuser, we now know, is an extremely troubled woman with a history of bipolar disorder and at least one similar past false complaint.
The Raleigh Police were very reluctant to proceed with this because of the many inconsistencies in her statements, and the fact that this most likely stemmed from a fiduciary dispute – the girls abbreviated their session and the clients (the Lacrosse team) didn’t want to pay full price for a shortened act…but Nifong saw opportunity here!
For his own political gain, he used this woman’s story to make himself look like a champion of racial justice.
There’s no such thing as “racial justice!”
Be true to the facts and you’ll champion justice, period.
Hundreds, maybe thousands of such false charges are brought to police departments and DA’s every day in this country and almost all of them are immediately thrown out, due to the same sort of inconsistencies this woman’s story is riddled with.
Bottom line, Nifong put his own political avarice over race relations in North Carolina, over Duke University’s reputation, over the lives of three apparently innocent men and over every and anything else, because he put his desires ahead of everything else, including his own integrity – he probably has always put his own wants and desires first in every part of his life and if so, more’s the pity.
This is a lowlife who’d see Raleigh burn, so long as he got his puny political victory.
There have always been troubled people like the accuser here, but there are generally few truly vile, evil scum like Nifong who could care less what harm comes to others, while in the reckless pursuit of their own self-interest.
I despise Nifong as much as I would a man who’d hold a toddler up in front of himself as a shield.
Anything short of disbarment would be a travesty of justice in this case.
For my money, let this woman get the help she so desperately seems to need, but Nifong, at least in my view, is far, far worse, far more malicious and far more despicable, because he knowingly and deliberately brought these charges forward against all better judgment.
Resume the discussion at the latest Duke post:
http://lashawnbarber.com/archives/2006/12/29/haunt-me-in-my-dreams/
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