Lacrosse-team persecutor gets slapped by bar
Mike Nifong's actions stink so badly that even the North Carolina Bar has filed a complaint against him. Among other choice statements he made to the media, I had missed these gems:
-- Nifong referred to the lacrosse players as "a bunch of hooligans."-- He declared: "I am convinced there was a rape, yes, sir."
-- He told ESPN: "One would wonder why one needs an attorney if one was not charged and had not done anything wrong."
So much for "innocent until proven guilty".
Comments
Posted by: jeffrey smith
Posted on: December 31, 2006 10:15 PM
One thing that that bugs me: where are the assistant DAs? It doesn't say much for them that they let Nifong go on like he did, and I can't think of a scenario in which the DNA evidence could be handled the way it was without their knowledge and assistance. This is screwing up their careers, even if the Bar doesn't go after them.
By way of contrast: our local DA (they call them State Attorney here) keeps out of the news so much I had to check to make sure it's still the same guy. It's been the same guy since 1976. (Keeps getting re-elected, because lately no one runs against him.) He does trial work and supervises cases, but he keeps a very low profile. Usually he perks up only when there's some sort of political corruption case. The chief of the PD's office is a PR hound (http://www.browarddefender.com/howard.htm), but he keeps his TV work separate from his PD work. (The TV station he works for hardly ever mentions his real job.) And he never comments publicly on any case his office is involved with. (I first met him when I interned in the PDs office, at which time he was an assistant PD. Quite distinctive: about five feet tall, often loudmouthed, and at the time wearing a ponytail.) The chief PD at that time was a political egoist of the first order, but never actually touched an active case. I never met him, despite the fact that most of my internship work was with the homicide/major felony attorneys. Definitely not like Nifong.)