Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Nifong Targets FODU!

Nifong's filing today also included a copy of his initial response to the bar's DNA allegations--a response, critically, that he prepared before hiring an attorney. Here's one of the concluding paragraphs:

A well-connected and well-financed (but not, I would suggest, well-intentioned) group of individuals--most of whom are neither in nor from North Carolina--have taken it upon themselves to ensure that this case never reaches trial. (And if this seems like paranoid delusion to you, perhaps you should check out websites such as former Duke Law School graduate and current Maryland attorney Jason Trumpbour's www.friendsofdukeuniversity.blogspot.com/, which has not only called for me to be investigated, removed from this case, and disbarred, but has also provided instructions on how to request such actions and to whom those requests should be sent.)

A couple of observations:

To the best of my knowledge, Trumpbour still is a Duke Law School graduate.

And yes, that allegation does seem like paranoid delusion to me.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

KC,
I just started a thread at LS on this letter. Where the hell has this been? Aren't all the records of this case public? If so why haven't we seen this.

Mikey wants to know who turned him in!

Mikey's defense on lying to the judge, well, if I did Judge Smith would have sanctioned me, but he didn't so I didn't lie, or I got away with it and it's none of the Bar's business. Judge Smith believed me, or so Mikey thinks.

The arrogance of this letter is unbelievable. This man is an idiot. Disbarment next, then indictment. Smith should slap him down tomorrow.

Kemp

Anonymous said...

KC,

Tomorrow! Hope you get my gift before you go!

Duke Conversation:
Thursday, March 1, 6:30 p.m., at the Millennium Broadway Hotel & The Hudson Theatre, located at 145 West 44th Street in New York.

Be there or be square!
Kemp

Anonymous said...

JLS says....

I would have to be in New Orleans today of all days for a seminar.

Nifong acts like it is a crime to post information how to file a complaint against a district attorney????

Anonymous said...

Nifong continues to amaze me. I think it's funny he blames FODU. It is difficult to believe a seasoned attorney would submit such an allegation in an official response. Once again, we hear the "these people aren't from North Carolina" speech. It doesn't take a North Carolina resident to point out illegal activities. He actually appears to believe anyone outside the state has no right to question his actions, even though all three defendants live in other states.
It might save the Bar some time to visit the FODU site. It is a "one stop shopping"
site that contains a wealth of information regarding the case - including Mikey's misconduct. Mikey may come to regret leading the Bar to FODU because it makes the Bar's job that much easier to locate documents proving his illegal activities.

Michael said...

Kemp,

It may be that he wants to know if it was Judge Smith that sanctioned him as it was mentioned in that section you quoted.

Nifong is starting to take swings at anyone he can to try to make himself look a little better. I'm sure that those close to him don't want to be around him if Nifong can use them to bail himself out.

I'm surprised that LS wasn't mentioned as they have been very activist. I'd like to know if Nifong has seen any of the videos done by Tony Soprano. I'm sure that some in his office have looked at them out of curiousity.

Michael said...

Duke DA Answers Critics: Denies Unethical Conduct, Wants Some Charges Dropped

Ethics Case Takes a Personal Toll; Nifong Ambushed, Family Heckled

Sources close to Nifong said the Duke lacrosse case and the charges of unethical conduct have taken an enormous personal toll on the embattled prosecutor.

They said Nifong's teenage son is heckled at school, his office gets hate mail from around the country, and he has been aggressively pursued by the press.

-----------------------

And yet he can't understand why the three mothers were so mad and why the nation (outside of the Edwards campaign and a few other nutty bloggers) are so mad at him.

When police officers are trained on TASERs, they usually experience them first hand. Nifong is getting a taste of what it feels like to be on the other side.

I would hope that other prosecutors understand the time and expense that they put people through and that this case would remind them of their responsibility to be fair. Even to those that don't have access to the best lawyers.

Anonymous said...

My guess is that Jason T at FODU couldn not be more delighted than to be referenced as a source of Nifong's " documented formal whine" !

To Jason - Congratulations and savor the moment - I know I would.

Anonymous said...

Nifong can dish it out and try to ruin the lives of out-of-state Dukies, but he can't take it from the out-of-state Dukie lawyer who, if all goes well, has helped everyone know why Mikey's life should be ruined.

duke2009mom

Anonymous said...

There must be something to the "not from Durham/North Carolina" theme. Mikey keeps bringing it up over and over again.

But if you think about it - how would you feel living in an "Upside-down Wonderland" and all these folks from "Right-side Up" were throwing reason, facts, and common sense at you ?

Poor Mike - his Upside-down World has been turned "upside down" - haha

TW

Anonymous said...

Any chance this is part of an insanity defense? No, I'm not kidding.

Anonymous said...

He responds that the reasons he MAY have overlooked the evidence requested by the defense, is because he was in a hotly contested political fight. Having never been in a political race before, he could have overlooked it. He then goes on to hold up his previous 27 years, as exemplary. Asking why would he NOW, withold evidence when he never did before, *I* submit it's exactly because he was in a hotly contested political race. Duh!

Anonymous said...

Nifong/Gang88 made posters and pressured 47 lacrosse students to "confess". Maybe now it is time to make wanted posters of Durham PD and Nifong's staff. Unlike Lacross47, DPD/DA staff seem to be guilty of a serious crime.

There must be at least 10-20 people involved in the conspiracy (yes, it is a conspiracy). Nifong did not work alone.

It will be interesting to see when Gottlieb or other co-conspirators turn against Nifong. Surely, they must realize that Nifong is ready to do anything (e.g. blaming Gottlieb for everything).

Anonymous said...

Has anyone heard the results of the interview by the AG's office of CGM?

At some point, I think that Anderson is right, that the AG's office is keeping this case alive is problematic. Can't they evaluate the alibi, as it seems very airtight.

As many have pointed out, the real stinker in the room is the changed timeline to nuke the alibi. The Bar people have to know that story is completely concocted and have to know that anyone who plays that dirtily cannot be trusted with anything.

What's surprising to me as well is the fact that other attorneys are willing to sign this piece of trash response. Their reputations are on the line too.

This Nifong guy is a real bastard. All along, I've thought that he simply got on the tiger and cannot figure out how to get off. But it's more than that. He's willing to lie to win, and that is unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable. I never thought this guy would go through with trying to put these guys in jail--I think he's willing to do it, and that's scary. It's truly evil.

The civil suits are going to be god awful. If I were one of the three, I would show up to the depositions, with a big smirk on my face.

If I were one of the bar people, my first question to Nifong would be:

"From the time you sought the indictment until the day you recused yourself from the case, did you believe, in fact, that each defendant committed a sexual assault against CGM?"

My second question would be:

"Did you review the alibi evidence proferred by Seligmann?

Third:

"Did you think the alibi evidence was not airtight?"

The point is that Nifong has to, in fact, believe in the case or he has an obligation not to pursue it. How can he, with a straight face, argue that he believed the charges, given Seligman's alibi.

He has to answer those questions if asked.

Anonymous said...

Ah, takes me back to Mississippi in the 60s - everything would be fine except for those outside aggitators comin' down here stirrin' up trouble. Some things never change, including democrats. Nifong - now channeling Bull Connor.

Anonymous said...

During a December 21, 2006 interview with the accuser, she changed her version of the story and said that "Reade Seligman did not commit any sex act on her."
"DID NOT COMMIT ANY SEX ACT ON HER"=NO RAPE and NO SEXUAL ASSAULT.
I've had plenty of men in my life who DID NOT COMMIT ANY SEX ACT ON ME...can Nifong charge them with sexual assault?

How does Nifong lie away the fact that he ignored this information and instead of dropping ALL charges, he changed a charge of rape against Reade Seligman to a charge of sexual assault?
Will he say he was so confused by the FA's stories that he didn't believe her new story?

The FA also told Nifong's interviewer that Colin Finnerty did not use "any name during the attack" (what were they doing, yelling out names as they choked, punched, kicked and raped her anyway?)
Nifong had this information, knew that there were names assigned to all of the alleged sex acts and again, instead of dropping ALL charges, he changed the charge against Colin to sexual assault.
The FA was specific about which people did what to her, so how can a nameless person,(which the FA claims Colin was),be charged with doing the things that the FA accuses others did?

"Yes officer, their names were Moe, Larry and Curly and they sexually assaulted me but how about charging their brother Shemp!"

Anonymous said...

http://www.fuqua.duke.edu/alumni/connect/clubs_homepages/nyc.htm

Welcome New York Alumni

A Duke Conversation, March 1, 2007

Please save Thursday, March 1, as President Richard Brodhead, faculty, and students come to New York as part of A Duke Conversation: "Making a Difference." This discussion will feature the many ways Duke is making a positive difference in people's lives, both at home and around the world.

*sigh*

Anonymous said...

It's odd that Nifong is trying to use the defense that he didn't do anything actionable by the Bar (in regards to the Meehan/DNA matter) because the judge knows what he did and hasn't sanctioned him. It's been my understanding since the Dec. hearing that Judge Smith has been waiting for the defense to file a motion for sanctions against Nifong before he (the judge) acts. The most recent defense motion seems to be based on that premise as well. So if Smith goes ahead and imposes some type of sanction(s), I guess this particular defense is lost to Nifong.

Another thing that I find odd about Nifong's defenses (among so many things) is his contention that he didn't violate his ethical obligation to turn over all exculpatory evidence when he initially submitted only the misleading Meehan report, because he was eventually going to be turning over the underlying data anyway. His argument conveniently overlooks the fact that when the defense specifically requested the underlying data, Nifong objected to producing it, and claimed that the defense was conducting a "witch hunt." Seems to me that those two positions are simply irreconcilable.

Anonymous said...

I thought the "word on the street" in prosecutorial circles was,

"Mike, you're making us all look really bad here. Let us send you some of our veteren ADA's to put fresh eyes on the case and help you out of this mess."

Respectfully,
NC DA's Association

Anonymous said...

Nifong's filing today also included a copy of his initial response to the bar's DNA allegations--a response, critically, that he prepared before hiring an attorney.

What's that old saying? Something about "A lawyer who defends himself has a fool for a client."

Anonymous said...

So Mike doesn't like the FODU site.

If he doesn't like what is being said than why is he reading that site.


To bad Nifong is no longer on this case I'll bet that judge Smith would like to have a word or two with him right about now.

becket03 said...

Nifong claims "people" in his office prepared the DNA documents for the defense without his supervision. He'd better be sure they'll say the same under oath.

He claims that "attorneys" involved in this process "were neither concentrating on the actual contents of the documents being copied nor familiar enough with the facts of the case to know whether anything was missing." (pg 4, Dec 28th letter to Katherine Jean)

Nifong is depending on attorneys in his office to admit their incompetence.

Private assurances of loyalty often evaporate on the witness stand, when the heat goes up and the little red light on the camera goes on.

beckett