Okay, I don't really mean that.I'm no fan of Mike Nifong. The miscarriage of justice in the Duke Lacrosse case is well documented, and I'd be the last person to suggest that the Durham DA is free of blame in the matter.
My only request: Let's all stop and take a deep breath before we hang him in the public square.
Rushing to judgment is never a good thing. Doesn't matter if the accused are three innocent lacrosse players or one hapless prosecutor haste is the mother of all jurisprudential screw-ups.
Mike Nifong should made to answer for his indiscretions. And the rest of us should be made to listen.
Did Mike Nifong bungle the Duke investigation? Absolutely. Is that bungling, ipso facto, indicative of unethical malfeasance? Hardly.
Nifong dropped the ball here. That doesn't make him guilty. Or not guilty, for that matter. Maybe he is, or maybe he isn't and the plain fact of the matter is that we won't know until all the facts come to light, which seems to be a theme in North Carolina legal circles these day.
Hopefully we've learned enough in the last year to let justice run its course.
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about 1 year ago
Mike Nifong prosecuted three innocent young men because they were White and the defendant was Black. Sorry, but that's all there is to it. All he saw was an opportunity to better his personal image by exploiting racial divisions. He nearly destroyed those men's lives in an attempt to make an example of them, and it doesn't get much more narcissistic than that. How dare he. I say make an example of HIM and prosecute him to full extent of the law.
about 1 year ago
I want to see Mike Nifong disbarred, sued, and imprisoned. He INTENTIONALLY ignored/suppressed blatant exculpatory evidence just to win his re-election. I hope the 3 lacrosse players' families sue him and take his house. I have zero pity for him. He didn't make an honest mistake. He commited a vicious crime under the status of his job as a representative of the people. He deserves a fair a trial AND a conviction.
about 1 year ago
Yeah, it's extremely hard to argue that mere incompetence was to blame here. Unlike most attorneys (whose duty is to their clients), prosecutors have a duty to the truth. Deliberately ignoring evidence that would help exonerate the accused is simply inexcusable, if not criminal. Just ask the NC Attorney General.
about 1 year ago
You choose your title simply to inflame, and then misconstrue the facts of the matter. Nifong willfully and intentionally misrepresented the facts of the case. He knew the truth and ignored it. This goes FAR beyond simple incompetence. He smeared the names of three innocent college kids. He did it with more than just sheer incompetence. That you seem to claim that's all it was puts you in the same category as Nifong. You titled it the way you did simply to inflame, and perhaps gather hits. It worked. Unfortunately there's no "bar" for disingenuous blog posters.
about 1 year ago
...and deserves the harshest penatly North Carolina law allows.
The DNA lab has already admitted it withheld critical exculpatory evidence from the defense at Nifong's request. Otherwise this case would have been over with in less than two weeks.
Nifong used this case to get himself re-elected, and inflamed the black community in Durham to do so.
Funny how that works in politics, isn't it? All reason and common sense goes out the window with a politician (and, being elected, Nifong IS a politician) and the media jumping on certain types of stories (especially when demographics work in their favor - this would have been a non-story if the players were all black or the woman white.)
about 1 year ago
The Nifong trial is a result of his own ignorance. He only thought of himself. During this whole process Nifong needs to think about his family. He'd be better off resigning and letting his family move own without all the stress of having to watch him on TV or in court. He's better off preparing for the law suit that he will have to face just incase a law suit is filed.
about 1 year ago
Michael Nifong ruined three young kids' lives. They will never be the same as a result of his egocentric, self-promoting, outrageous, criminal tactics. This man clearly miscarried justice for personal gain and should not only be disbarred, he should be imprisoned for obstructing justice. Ignoring evidence that would have exonerated these college students, evidence that would have saved their families from going through the hell they experienced must be a crime in some book somewhere; and if it isn't it should be.
about 1 year ago
Nifong must be given the legal equivalent of being hanged, drawn and quartered: disgrace, disbarment, jail and poverty. He must suffer to his last breath. Mike Nifong's corpse will serve as a warning to any future prosecutor who tries to take on priveledged white males for political reasons. The utter destruction of Nifong may also make future prosecutions less likely even in instances where the prosecution is warranted but the evidence shaky. Let the Gang of 88 go to sleep each night knowing they were instrumental in this.
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