Durham DA Disbarred

[DaSharkie]

In case anyone has been living in a shell today (as I should have been) Durham County (NC) District Attorney Mike Nifong is to be disbarred from the North Carolina Bar over the Duke LaCrosse case.

Living in Durham, I will just say that this guy should have saved time and money a long time ago. The LaCrosse player's attorneys are to seek criminal charges next week...........

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

http://www.newsobserver.com/

[Dave1983]

The LaCrosse player's attorneys are to seek criminal charges next week...........

I hope they get them. What a POS.

[mcaldwell]

Well I'm glad it is finally being dealt with.

The sad thing here is that it is not Really Nifong who will bear the ultimate burden. He just has to find a new job. It is the future legitimate cases of rape that will be that much harder to prove because of this whole fiasco. Public cynicism does not always fade quickly.

At least it might serve as a warning to the other aspiring lawyers who choose to sleep through ethics class.

[DaSharkie]

Nifong's name is mud in North Carolina. He will be a Pariah.

He will lose his law license. The trial court judge who had the original case still retains jurisdiction adn can still file his own charges and mete out his own punishment.

And this is not some political hackarama like in other places. He will be in the news again. And he will write VERY LARGE CHECKS.


Lawyers will learn from this too.

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

After having worked in a prosecutor's office for 20 years, I came to realize that it is an awesome responsibility to have the power to deprive someone of their liberty and to essentially destroy a person's life. This is a responsibility that I never took lightly. I was never asked by a prosecutor to do anything untoward and I was never a witness to prosecutorial misconduct. However, it clearly happened in this case. This case will be used for years to educate prosecutors in what not to do.

The prosecutors I know would be totally repulsed by this behavior.

There is another interesting point. In NJ, Prosecutors (our equivalent to a DA or State's Attorney) are appointed by the Governor and approved by the legislature. They are not elected. I would argue that the behavior of Wifong was motivated solely by his desire to get re-elected and not for any crusdade for justice.

[scfire86]

And this is not some political hackarama like in other places. He will be in the news again. And he will write VERY LARGE CHECKS.

As well he should. One of the players I saw interviewed realized how fortunate he was to be an individual of means and resources. He was pretty pragmatic in his statements that he realized he would be facing jail time had he not been from an affluent family. I thought that should quite a bit of insight.

[DaSharkie]

As well he should. One of the players I saw interviewed realized how fortunate he was to be an individual of means and resources. He was pretty pragmatic in his statements that he realized he would be facing jail time had he not been from an affluent family. I thought that should quite a bit of insight.

Quite true.

But consider the sheer number of overturned convictions where people spent years, if not decades, incarcerated only to be exhonerated by DNA or other means.

I suspect that prosecutorial misconduct may become a buzzword soon. What really p!sses me off is that the DOJ has not had any civil rights violations investigations brought into this.

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

Quite true.

But consider the sheer number of overturned convictions where people spent years, if not decades, incarcerated only to be exhonerated by DNA or other means.

I suspect that prosecutorial misconduct may become a buzzword soon. What really p!sses me off is that the DOJ has not had any civil rights violations investigations brought into this.

An overturned conviction does not mean prosecutorial misconduct occurred. It is unfair to state that just because a person's conviction is overturned that some dastardly deed occurred.

[FlyingKiwi]

Just as it is to assume that they are innocent due to the overturning.

[scfire86]

An overturned conviction does not mean prosecutorial misconduct occurred. It is unfair to state that just because a person's conviction is overturned that some dastardly deed occurred.

That's easy to say when you've never been unjustly convicted and incarcerated.

[FlyingKiwi]

Methinks George is talking about the prosecution doing illegal or immoral actions during the trial.

[DaSharkie]

An overturned conviction does not mean prosecutorial misconduct occurred. It is unfair to state that just because a person's conviction is overturned that some dastardly deed occurred.

Not unfair. There has been a tremendous amount of these sorts of situations occurring in the past 5 years.

I am just stating that their may be more investigations into this. I highly doubt that it is not exactly an isolated incident.

[DaSharkie]

Just as it is to assume that they are innocent due to the overturning.

We are not talking about overturning a conviction based on some legal technicality here.

[nmfire]

Thank god. I'm so tired of hearing about this case on the news by now. Finally, everyone can start thinking about moving on with life.

[KEEPBACK200FEET]

He's fixing to find out what it's like to be raped by the justice system. I just hope the following legal proceedings are carried out correctly so he can't get out of his punishment.

[GeorgeWendtCFI]

Not unfair. There has been a tremendous amount of these sorts of situations occurring in the past 5 years.

I am just stating that their may be more investigations into this. I highly doubt that it is not exactly an isolated incident.

It would be naive to think that prosecutorial misconduct does not occur. But, in my experience, it is extremely isolated. Remember, what you are talking about is a calculated, willful action to control and manipulate evidence and testimony in order to wrongly convict someone. That is a pretty high standard.

The overwhelming majority of cases that are overturned are NOT cases like the above. Those cases usually involve mistakes. Mistakes by a cop, a prosecutor, a defense attorney, a judge or combinations thereof.

No one should spend a second in jail for a crime they did not commit. But there is not a massive conspiracy in prosecutors offices to take innocent people off the street and put them in jail.

BTW, do you know how many incarcerated people did not do the crime they are in for? ALL of them. Just ask them.

[HotTrotter]

An overturned conviction does not mean prosecutorial misconduct occurred. It is unfair to state that just because a person's conviction is overturned that some dastardly deed occurred.

However, in this case the DA witheld DNA evidence that cleared the men in question.

[DaSharkie]

Thank god. I'm so tired of hearing about this case on the news by now. Finally, everyone can start thinking about moving on with life.

It will be around for a very long time. Between criminal and civil charges there is at least another year out of this.

[DennisTheMenace]

As well he should. One of the players I saw interviewed realized how fortunate he was to be an individual of means and resources. He was pretty pragmatic in his statements that he realized he would be facing jail time had he not been from an affluent family. I thought that should quite a bit of insight.

Their affluent family's were able to provide the truth to the world, but a year ago it was that affluance that made them a target of many. The lottery of life is strange sometimes.

[HotTrotter]

It will be around for a very long time. Between criminal and civil charges there is at least another year out of this.

It will probably outlive that obnoxious useless Hilton thing. Get real, does anyone really care that the fool is going to jail???