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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Nifong Loses Effort to Dismiss Main Ethics Charge |
| 2007-04-17 |
| 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. Cooper’s 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 don’t 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 |
| #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 2007-04-17 18:50 |
| #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 2007-04-17 18:46 |
| #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. |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-04-17 15:23 |
| #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. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-04-17 13:49 |
| #3 could face penalties up to disbarment. He should serve hard prison time. |
| Posted by: Angaiger Tojo1904 2007-04-17 11:48 |
| #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. |
| Posted by: Rambler 2007-04-17 08:25 |
| #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. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-04-17 01:31 |