[Governor] Easley had asked Nifong not to run

Gov. Mike Easley did not want an "heir apparent" in the Durham district attorney's chair, and that is why he extracted a promise from Mike Nifong not to run for the office when he was appointed to it in 2005, a state spokeswoman said Monday.

In appointing Nifong to succeed former District Attorney Jim Hardin Jr. -- who became a judge -- Easley merely wanted a "placeholder or non-candidate" to fill the job until last year's election, said Easley spokeswoman Renee Hoffman.

That way, those who wanted to compete at the ballot box "would be able to start from a level playing field," Hoffman added.

She said Nifong was "explicit" with the governor's legal counsel, Reuben Young, that "he had no intention of running for the office. The governor would have looked at the acting appointment very differently if he had known Nifong planned to run."

But Nifong broke his promise and ran anyway, winning a May 2006 Democratic primary and then gaining a four-year term in November's general election, Easley told students at New York University last month.

"I rate that as probably the poorest appointment that I've ...," he added, not finishing the sentence.

Hoffman's statement appeared to answer a question that was on the tip of many lawyers' tongues all day Monday.

At the time of the appointment, Nifong had been an assistant prosecutor in Durham for nearly three decades and boasted an apparently spotless performance record.

Some were not satisfied with Easley's explanation when informed of it Monday evening.

They said they weren't aware of the governor extracting promises from other appointees not to run for office, including Orange-Chatham District Attorney Jim Woodall.

Like Nifong, Woodall was appointed chief prosecutor for his jurisdiction after his predecessor became a judge. Woodall then ran unopposed in last year's election

"Is there something special about Mike [Nifong}?" veteran lawyer Mark Edwards wondered aloud Monday. "Is there something special about Durham?

"I think this raises more questions than it answers," Edwards said of the governor's explanation. "Out of all the appointments the governor makes, why was this one different?"

John Fitzpatrick, president of the Durham Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, also was scratching his head over the governor's statement.

"An answer like that is more confusing than it is clarifying," he said. "It's an answer without substance. It begs the question of consistency. Does this same standard apply just to Mike Nifong or to other appointees as well? That's what people are asking. The public clearly voiced their position that they wanted Mike Nifong to be DA. He just answered the call of the people."

Meanwhile, Nifong recently handed off the controversial and nationally publicized Duke lacrosse sex-offense case to special prosecutors from the N.C. Attorney General's Office.

He now faces State Bar allegations that he made unethical comments about the case in its infancy last year, and that he withheld DNA evidence favorable to three former Duke students accused of sexually assaulting an exotic dancer at an off-campus party.

Those allegations could result in anything from exoneration to a warning letter to disbarment for Nifong. A hearing is tentatively slated for June.

They wanted to know why the governor would ask Nifong not to run for office, since Nifong was appointed acting district attorney long before the Duke lacrosse sex-offense case began to sully his reputation and get him into legal hot water. At the time of the appointment, Nifong had been an assistant prosecutor in Durham for nearly three decades and boasted an apparently spotless performance record.

Can't help but suspect the "spotless" bit is pure spin and that Easley knew something the press has failed to find out.

It sounds like a lot of politics that wasnt being put on the record..........

"Is there something special about Mike [Nifong}?"

My guess would be that Easley knew Nifong was a political whore so didn't he trust him in the case of an election, but needed somebody who knew the job to hold the place until the next election. As far as I can see Nifong was a decent ADA, back when his personal political aspirations didn't come into play.

If you mixed Nifong and Easley in a pot, you wouldn't be able to tell the crap from the feces.

A rat jumping ship. This is very good news for us and bad news for nifong. It shows him as a little mealy mouthed worm who broke his word to easley. Now watch more stuff come out about this guy. The rat structure wants him out. Probably getting pressure from big bucks duke lefties who don't like having their school trashed. Of course they don't mind have the three players trashed, they ARE after all white, but trashing the school in all of this? Non! If nifong had crushed these kids into taking a plea in spite of being innocent, the duke lefties would have loved it. Now that that aint happenin' they want nifong gone pronto!

5 posted on 02/06/2007 10:51:07 AM PST by jmaroneps37 (Millions of Democrat babies aborted in 1989 or earlier won't vote this year.)

Of course. He had fired her when he was appointed, so he figured that if she won the race, she'd promptly fire him.

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