Posted on 01/24/2007 5:42:13 AM PST by broncoholic
Earlier this month, Durham Country District Attorney Mike Nifong changed the course of the Duke lacrosse saga by sending a letter to the North Carolina attorney general's office, requesting that it take over the case.
ABC News obtained a copy of that letter, which describes, in Nifong's own words, the reasoning and circumstances behind his decision.
According to the letter, Nifong felt he had to step down after being served an ethics complaint by the North Carolina State Bar, charging him with violations of professional conduct. The charges, filed Dec. 28, accuse Nifong of making improper and potentially prejudicial comments about Duke lacrosse players and the case against them.
"In addition to fueling any existing public perception that I have a conflict of interest in this matter, this filing has also created an actual conflict, as I am now personally the subject of an investigation and charges in this case," Nifong wrote of the ethics complaint.
On Wednesday, Nifong is expected to appear at a prehearing conference related to the ethics violation complaint. The meeting, to be held in a courtroom at the offices of the North Carolina Bar, is in preparation for a May 11 trial. If the three-person panel presiding at that trial finds Nifong guilty, they could hand him a punishment ranging from private reprimand to disbarment.
In his letter, Nifong also mentioned public statements made by his fellow North Carolina district attorneys, who called for him to step down. The North Carolina conference of district attorneys issued a Dec.29 press release stating that Nifong should recuse himself from the case.
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Nifong is a liar!
ALL psychopaths are liars, and the job of DA is an absolute magnet for psychopaths. Huge power with little or no liability, and the vast majority of them are demokkkrats. The job of DA needs to be abolished. NOBODY should have any sort of a money or career interest in putting people in prison.
So how long until the new prosecutor assigned to the 'case' drops the whole thing?
It certainly makes one wonder how many other cases he's ramrodded through and ruined innocent people's lives.
Multiply that in North Carolina, where the legal system can screw innocent people and the general public would never know, if it weren't for cases like this. I think they should reopen all of Nifong's past cases and examine his activities.
nifong recusal letter link
"Multiply that in North Carolina, where the legal system can screw innocent people and the general public would never know,"
That is everywhere in the country.
I seem to recall a judge ordering a dna test on the accusers baby. Whatever became of that?
It might occur everywhere in the country, but it happens far too much in North Carolina. I have never seen a state with such a corrupt system.
"So long, it's been good to know ya'..."
The article states that Nifong's letter was addressed to Jim Coman, the man to whom AG Roy Cooper has now assigned the case for prosecution or other disposition.
Coman and Nifong have a prior relationship, as they were once prosecutorial co-workers. Is that not at least a POTENTIAL conflict of interest worthy of consideration?
Why was Nifong's letter not addressed to Mr. Cooper himself?
Was there some secret handshake by which the case was predetermined to be given to Coman?
Was Nifong aware of any such development?
It sure seems likely...and improper...and possibly unethical in and of itself.
This whole thing continues to stink to high heaven, and further exposes the widespread corruption within the NC justice system.
I am going to be sick...
"It might occur everywhere in the country, but it happens far too much in North Carolina. I have never seen a state with such a corrupt system."
And you are basing this statement on what outside of Durham County and a close study of what other states? Or are you just spouting off based on the Duke case with little to no outside information?
I am speaking of personal experience in North Carolina compared to California, Florida, Texas and Virginia where I have seen much more fairness.
I know several people who have experienced similar treatment as the Duke students, but they didn't have the resources to fight it. Several were out thousands of dollars, one went to prison, and one fought a civil case for 5 years before it was finally tossed out.
In North Carolina, any idiot can go down to the local Magistrate and swear out a false complaint with little (if any) legal exposure.
You seem somewhat defensive about the North Carolina justice system. Are you a law enforcement officer, judge, or prosecutor?
Did you know that if you get a major violation in North Carolina (example: 80mph in a 55mph zone) that you can get a private attorney, give him $400 cash, and he can get it changed to a "fix-it" ticket so no violation shows up on your DMV records? Does that sound like a clean system to you? Who do you think that lawyer shares the $400 with?
The AG should have wrote him back, "You broke it, you bought it."
I imagine just about every case he successfully prosecuted is in danger of being reopened. Taxpayers are gonna love that.
Just saw Dan Abrams on TV. He thinks the case will go away and there is a slim possibility that Nifong could go to jail. Very slim, but possible.
Well, that's good: he's been wrong about most of this case, so I guess we're on the right track here!
Our local (DC) radio talk station (carries Rush, Sean, etc) is finally talking about the Duke case today. I was the first one through. Now hearing from radom idiots talking about the boys "personal responsibility".
I think it's Mary Winstead, the second Special Prosecutor at the AG's office assigned to the case with Coman, who previously worked at the DA's office. But I have little doubt that he crossed paths with Coman in the past. Nifong may have called Winstead, if they were on good terms, to pave the way into Coman with whom he ultimately arranged for the transfer. I think I read that Coman is in charge of the Special Prosecutor unit at the AG's office, so Nifong would have wanted assurance they would take the case and an idea of how they would proceed before sending the request. Or it may be that there's an understanding between them that the AG's team will drag the case out to provide Nifong with cover for his state bar troubles in a variety of ways.
The potential for corruption and railroading defendants is present in varying degrees across the country, depending on the laws and criminal procedures established in a given state. Most prosecutors uphold the ethics and oath of their office, and it's always the bad ones we hear about. Keep in mind that NC has many unusual rules and procedures as well as an acute absence of oversight that leaves the entire state ripe for an extreme abuse of official powers such as we're seeing openly in this case.
Thanks for the post, Jezebelle.
It all seems so gentlemanly, doesn't it? "Don't worry, Mikeyboy, we'll have this whole thing taken care of before you can say, State Employee Pension Program. We have your back, because we know you'd have ours."
I'm going to be sick...again.
He shares the $400 with the government. Fix-it tickets don't usually carry a fine, but maybe they do in NC, or else it's an "administrative fee", lol!
It sounds like the lawyers found a way to milk the fact that a speeding ticket causes the driver's insurance premiums to rise. They use that as leverage to convince/insure that drivers will take that way out instead of just paying the fine, which is of course much less than $400, but the $400 is much less than a premium increase. The attorney pockets a couple hundred, the government gets its cut, and the insurance company gets bupkees because a fix-it ticket isn't a moving violation.
Another NC cozy relationship between government and lawyers.
Durham county was caught fixing tickets a few years ago. It is not practiced in Wake, Mecklenberg(Charlotte), or Guilford Counties, but seems to be done elsewhere in other counties.
"Fix-it" also applies to the seat belt program here in NC.
Rather than, "Click It or Ticket" a more apt slogan would sound something like, "Click It or Ticket, then Fix-It"
"Durham county was caught fixing tickets a few years ago. It is not practiced in Wake, Mecklenberg(Charlotte), or Guilford Counties, but seems to be done elsewhere in other counties."
How funny! No doubt our friend Mikey the Traffic Court Whiz was involved in all of that. Do you have any detail?
I am trying to remember when that occurred. Seems like about
2001 or so. The problem now is that if you do a Google search on Durham and "scandal" you get a million hits on "Duke". LOL!
Maybe someone from the area who subscribes to the N&O or the Durham newspaper might have a better chance of finding it?
I have never paid more than $250!
I never said it was me. I know a few people who have, including a relative.
But really I am not proud of it, but over the course of my 30 years driving, I have gotten tickets in Guilford, Wake, Forsyth, Davidson, Alamance, and various counties near the beach, and always had a lawyer get it dismissed completely or with a PJC and I paid him his fee and was done with it.(I have a lead foot) The most I ever paid was $250, and that was about 5 years ago.
Well, yeah.
I wonder if any of his former convictions will come under scrutiny now, and could this possibly be grounds for appeals from some of them.
The fixings are not allowed in some counties now, after the Durham scandal.
70 in a 55 only costs $150.
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