NC - Mike Nifong, Duke prosecutor, for ethics violations, Durham, 2006

[panthera]

Phase 2, the Penalty phase of the proceedings is now beginning.

 

[panthera]

Nifong guilty of ethics breach, committee finds

MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 14 minutes ago


RALEIGH, N.C. - Durham District Attorney broke rules of professional conduct in his handling of the Duke lacrosse rape case, a disciplinary committee ruled Saturday.
Nifong made "multiple, egregious mistakes" as he pursued charges against three Duke University lacrosse players falsely accused of rape, but not intentionally, his attorney said in closing statements at the prosecutor's ethics trial. That didn't seem to sway the committee.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19264396/

 

[Jeana (DP)]

Jeana, hundreds of prosecutors across our nation withhold evidence every day as a matter of routine. It is institutionalized and accepted within and by many D.A. and A.G. offices. Some states are worse than others, but nobody ranks ahead of NC, nobody.

I'm well aware of your feelings on this subject and I think you are of mine.:blowkiss:

 

[MSM]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19264396/

The committee, after deliberating for a little more than an hour, unanimously agreed with the bar on almost every charge — including the most serious allegations — that Nifong’s actions involved “dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation.”

..........................

The players' attorneys have pledged to seek criminal contempt charges next week in Durham.

ETA: I'm sure it is of some relief to the players to have Nifong found guilty of ethics violations, but like Hockeymom said, there is no way they can turn back the clock and undo all the damage.

 

[englishleigh]

I think Crystal Mangum ought to be charged, too, for making false accusations/filing a false report...it's not fair that she is getting off scot-free.

 

[Wudge]

I'm well aware of your feelings on this subject and I think you are of mine.:blowkiss:

Here's something I highly suspect you do not know. In March of this year, North Carolina prosecutors ghost wrote the Nifong protection Act.

"Cooney, the defense attorney for Duke lacrosse player Reade Seligmann, is watching some in the state legislature try to strip away the state law that kept three Duke students who were innocent of the charges against them from being convicted of crimes they didn't commit.

"I call them the 'Let's Legitimize What Mike Nifong Did,' acts," Cooney says of the parallel state house and senate bills that could once again block defendants and their attorneys from accessing prosecutor's files -- and evidence of their innocence contained within them."

http://charlotte.creativeloafing.co...id=oid:156124

The Bill (#768) written in March by North Carolina prosecutors to try and protect Nifong said: "Disclosure is also not required of legal research or of records, correspondence, reports, memoranda, or trial preparation interview notes prepared by the prosecuting attorney or by members of the prosecuting attorney's legal staff."

http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dcfp5x2d_80d8m2cw

 

[sassy_texasbelle2]

Justice does work...I wonder now if he can admit that he is wrong...I am sure not, he is to arrogant to do this...

 

[Dark Knight]

I think Crystal Mangum ought to be charged, too, for making false accusations/filing a false report...it's not fair that she is getting off scot-free.

I agree 100%.

 

[panthera]

Disciplinary committee disbars Nifong

(06/16/07 -- RALEIGH) - A disciplinary committee said Saturday disgraced prosecutor Mike Nifong would be disbarred for his disastrous prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players.

The Duke players were falsely accused of rape, a punishment the veteran prosecutor admitted was appropriate.

"This matter has been a fiasco. There's no doubt about it," said committee chairman F. Lane Williamson.

The North Carolina State Bar charged Nifong with breaking several rules of professional conduct, including lying to both the court and bar investigators and withholding critical DNA test results from the players' defense attorneys. The committee, after deliberating for a little more than an hour on Saturday, unanimously agreed with the bar on almost every charge -- including the most serious allegations -- that Nifong's actions involved "dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation."
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=triangle&id=5397918

 

[nanandjim]

Nifong has been disbarred.

http://apnews1.iwon.com//article/20070616/D8PQ5I680.html

Definition of disbarment:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disbarment

I wonder if Nifong can move from NC and practice law elsewhere??

 

[MSM]

I think Crystal Mangum ought to be charged, too, for making false accusations/filing a false report...it's not fair that she is getting off scot-free.

Excellent point. Earlier, the players and their attorneys said they wouldn't be pursuing legal action against her. Maybe because they'd be unlikely to recover any money? But why shouldn't she face charges since this is something she's done before?

 

[sassy_texasbelle2]

Nifong wanted to be the DA, and he was willing to do anything to be elected...Have no sorrow for him...It was his choice, and his alone.

 

[Liz]

Duke Prosecutor Nifong Disbarred in Ethics Case
(Update1)

June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred by the North Carolina State Bar for breaking rules of professional conduct while handling rape allegations against Duke University lacrosse players.

Nifong, 56, who said yesterday he will resign, was found to have broken rules of professional conduct in his pursuit of charges against three Duke players. The three white athletes were later exonerated in the case, which began with a black stripper's allegations she was assaulted at a team party.

The committee, meeting today in Raleigh, North Carolina, was unanimous in finding against Nifong in 17 of 19 contested issues, including charges that his conduct was ``prejudicial to the administration of justice´´ and that he lied to the court about evidence.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aW9bAiVpto.8&refer=us

 

[Peter Hamilton]

Disbarment! Very Nice indeed

 

[Lighthouse]

Disbarred. There is justice in this world.

 

[luvbeaches]

ok forgive me for being an idiot about the duke rape case. i turned off my brain every time i heard it come on the news.


did the alleged victim ever recant her story?

She didn't recant her story...but didn't it change many times?

 

[englishleigh]

Excellent point. Earlier, the players and their attorneys said they wouldn't be pursuing legal action against her. Maybe because they'd be unlikely to recover any money? But why shouldn't she face charges since this is something she's done before?

I heard them say today that she wasn't being charged b/c she has mental problems...my response to that is, would a mental person who hurt someone get off free b/c he was mental? Of course not. He might not see any jail time, but he would be locked away. Crystal is likely not physically dangerous to anyone, but she is dangerous in that she almost ruined (and did severely damage) three young lives with her lies. She should be punished for that and also receive some psychiatric help if it is so needed.

 

[englishleigh]

She didn't recant her story...but didn't it change many times?

Many, many times...which is why she quickly became suspicious...and then the lack of DNA evidence against the boys (that Nifong withheld from the defense, the b*stard) is what finally cleared them.

 

[philamena]

I think Crystal Mangum ought to be charged, too, for making false accusations/filing a false report...it's not fair that she is getting off scot-free.

Absolutely.

 

[luvbeaches]

Many, many times...which is why she quickly became suspicious...and then the lack of DNA evidence against the boys (that Nifong withheld from the defense, the b*stard) is what finally cleared them.

I thought I remembered that happening. Nifong is a b*stard. It was nice seeing him getting what he so deserved. It's just so sad that those boys had to endure this...and their families.

And to me, Nifong does not look the least bit sorry for any of his actions.