Friday, June 15, 2007

Nifong Cross

Q: If you could have spoken to Dave Evans, maybe you could have made a different decision?
A: Yes.

Nifong is continuing to speak quietly. His use of his son as a prop was par for the course, if not disappointing.

Says that he has no specific recollection of Cheshire letter.

Bar prosecutor Doug Brocker is now introducing the Nifong deposition as an official matter.

Brocker presses: you didn't take him up on the offer (Evans) because an expectation he wouldn't confess.

Nifong: if people wanted to make comments about the case, could contact police, but concedes Brocker's recollection of his deposition statement.

Joe Cheshire has termed Nifong's tearful resignation a "cynical" ploy by the ex-DA to retain his law license.

Brocker now goes through Nifong's early statements to disprove Nifong's claim that he was just trying to confine his comments to what was in the public record (NTO), pointing out the absurdity of Nifong's claim that he was trying to keep a lid on a racially charged Durham community.

Brocker is now running through the contradictions between Nifong's claim that 98 percent of his statements occurred before April 3.

"Willing to accept" representation that he never used the word "alleged" in any statement, though Nifong claims that he can't recall any of his specific statements.

Initial briefing, 10-12.

Then 12.45pm: N&O reporter, followed by H-S, local TV stations; then interview at 7am the next morning, then all the people from the day before. Then Bob Ekstrand; then MSNBC's Rita Cosby; then FOX, CNN, Good Morning America. Notes he never appeared on GMA.

Honored his early April appointments; also other media interviews that didn't appear on the calendar.

Introduce Freda Black poll from campaign, showing Black ahead by 17 points on March 27.

Says that he's aware if he lost the primary, he would have lost the only job he ever had.

Brocker is now going through the unusual nature of Nifong's fundraising activities and the relationship between Nifong's loans and his beginning of comments on the case.

Nifong is maintaining his argument that not all the lacrosse players were suspects; but the NTO clearly identified each of the players as suspects. Nifong: "You could argue that."

Nifong appears to be admitting that the March 23 NTO was fraudulent.

Brocker: where did 4-4 photos come from?
Nifong: NTO. But "it was a done deal by the time that I got into the case." "Nothing about the order that struck me as improper." The evidence was there, so why not use it--even if obtained improperly? [An extraordinary argument.]

87 comments:

Anonymous said...

here we go

Anonymous said...

anticlimactic

Anonymous said...

2 questions.
2 I don't recalls

Anonymous said...

He certainly seems contrite.

Anonymous said...

He's going to pull an Alberto Gonzales

Anonymous said...

this is exactly the same cross needed for broadhead broadrotten, and all the group of 88

Anonymous said...

He didn't want comments from anyone, after a crime was reported.

Is that new in crime solving?

Anonymous said...

Nifong makes Gonzales look like, well, the Attorney General or something.

Anonymous said...

4:13

That's from the Alice in Wonderland Rules of Investigation.

See "Red Queen" for procedural details

Anonymous said...

I gues Alzhiemers has set in in the last 5 months??

Anonymous said...

He also resigned to blunt the cross exam....he hopes that by resigning they won't want to 'bully' him.

Anonymous said...

A radio station just announced that Fong would resign. The claimed good riddance and dedicated a song to him: Hinder, "You can do better". The lyrics begin:
"I think you can do much better than me,
After all the lies I made you believe..."


Too bad he wants us to believe he is a good guy now.

Anonymous said...

I smell a trap coming (he's going to match up against past behavior...)

Anonymous said...

The bar needed to go for a continuance to take some of the halo from his previous statements.

BTW, before anyone is too sympathetic here, there is a law in front of the legislature as we speak to remove from office any DA who has his license suspended. He has gotten lots of sympathy, taken the edge off the cross, and cost himself absolutely nothing. He knew suspension (and therefore loss of position) was best case here.

Anonymous said...

Listening to him really gets to me. He is so condesending and calm as he strains to lie. I worked in the WTC on September 11th and I am getting the same tick in my neck that I had that day as I watched the towers fall. how can anyone believe him?

Anonymous said...

Just tar and feather the dude....

Goodbye Duke Case....

Signing off. It's been unreal!

Anonymous said...

Nice suit though.

Anonymous said...

Dave Evans already talked to police, right? He offered to take a lie detector test but the police and Nifong turned him down.

This is more smoke screen, the bar is right, he didn't care to talk to Dave Evans unless he was confessing. Imagine how arrogant this man is that he is SO ARROGANT he didn't want to hear the defense csae from the defense.

Anonymous said...

If he wrote stuff down, he wouldn't need to "recollect it".

As for going to the Police ... they weren't interested in exculpatory evidence. Nifong was pressing on anyway. It was his job to share what he had for defense, and his job to try to get to the bottom of things before rushing to judgment.

Anonymous said...

Although he'll fail miserably he seems to be trying to deflect future civil liability.

Anonymous said...

... he's self righteous, and was convinced in his rightness that the were guilty as he charged them.

Anonymous said...

I agree w/Cheshire, this was a cynical ploy to blunt the bar.

Anonymous said...

I really don' believe anymore that he thought they were guilty. I think he did not care--the case served his purposes

Anonymous said...

Nifong never said when he would resign as DA. Could be 4 years time when he has enough time for his pension increase!!

Anonymous said...

Excellent, Nifong is fighting the cross and begoinning to show his famous arrogance and hubris.

Anonymous said...

He certainly seems contrite.

While lying in the process about what happened.

This is how sociopaths manipulate people.

Anonymous said...

Did i or did I not just hear this.

You knew statements had the potential of being devisive in the community?

Yes.

Anonymous said...

In all this commentary on whether he knew a crime was committed or whether it served his own purposes on thing is lost: the culpability of the "dominant narrative" about class, race, gender, etc, conflict in US society and the damage that said narrative does to truth and civility.

Anonymous said...

Anon at 4:26

If you didn't hear that, we're sharing the same auditory hallucination.

Dianna

Anonymous said...

The 'Fong will soon be suffering "blunt force trauma" to his pocketbook.

-Ben Dover-

Dan Weber said...

He's making it really hard for things to be read into the record.

Anonymous said...

======="Willing to accept" representation that he never used the word "alleged" in any statement.======

He certainly hasn't forgotten how to use the word alleged since he refers to the charges against himself as allegations...repeatedly.

Anonymous said...

Joe Cheshire is a fabulous lawyer> he will keep his eye on the prize which is a total take down, nothing less.

It will tell the world how serious NC is about it's legal system. Their decision is being watched.

Re-imbursement from Duke should be next for all of the family expenses.

Anonymous said...

The sludge is, albeit slowly, emerging.

Anonymous said...

LAWYERS

Any chance 'Fong will be criminally prosecuted?

After all, what he attempted to do is 1 of the most vicious civil-rights violations in the history of US.

Anonymous said...

Imagine a doctor making a diagnosis or going to surgery without ever examining the patient in person, just relying of the records of other.

Unbelievable.

His political ambitions at the time were so transparent.

Anonymous said...

he is not looking at hearing panel at all when he answers. He was during direct exam

Anonymous said...

The case against Nifong is so overwhelming and so severe that I cannot fathom why Nifong ever let the bar make its case against him. Him taking the stand is one of the most stupid decisions I have seen a lawyer anywhere make. He should have voluntarily given his license up and avoided this hearing and making this public record. He is almost going to force a criminal investigation and charges and this hearing and this the record make it a lot easier for ther authorities. What an idiot. Anyone one with a brain in the same circumsnaces would have given his license up, avoided this public spectacle and moved to North Dakota -- some place no one knows him.

Anonymous said...

Meant....relying ON the records of others.

Anonymous said...

Why would you say something like that about the folks in North Dakota--I'm sure they're very nice people who certainly deserve better!

Cuba, perhaps?

Anonymous said...

April 31st.

:-)

Good job, Mr Accuracy.

Anonymous said...

Oh man, they are going for the jugular w/the Freda Black poll, getting to his real motives in the case. Hurrah.

Anonymous said...

Oh yes, the Bar is frying him on his political ambitions... he interviewed on more channels than any political campaigner//

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

one down.....hundreds to go!!!!!

Anonymous said...

4:35 - I have been saying this for quite some time now...but that doesn't make you any less right or persuasive...I can't figure this guy out - or his supporters - they are doing causes they putatively support tremendous harm...

Anonymous said...

Didn't Sandy Berger just voluntarily give up his law license to keep from having to testify on the record about his sock and pant stuffing episode at the National Archives?

Nifong should have followed Berger's example.

Anonymous said...

4:35:00 PM Agree, thank God that his hubis and stupidity put this out there in the public's face.

It vindicates those kids more effectively than the charges dropped.

You can't watch this and ever have doubts about their innocence.

Anonymous said...

if, if, if...

if Nifong had a clue none of this would have happened, he is so arrogant he never had an out strategy, he was bluffing and bluffing no end in sight.

i agree though, unless he moved heaven and earth behind the scenes and did everything he could to avoid this hearing he is a moron.

whoever said this testimony begs for a criminal investigation was right.

Anonymous said...

"28 years and seven months".... but who is counting?

Anonymous said...

see, here i would feel sorry for him, except that i know he always had it in for freda and that he fired her becuase she was smarter than he was, if he hadn't alienated and fired black then she would not have been running against him in the first place.

it all comes back to his own arrogance and misjudgements.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

My wifes "loans", as they were called.

Graft, to everybody else.

Anonymous said...

Can someone remind me which two
panel members are attorneys?

Anonymous said...

Huh, what loans?

I assume everyone on the panel is an attorney, no?

Anonymous said...

Just. Wow. Payback really is a bi*ch.

Anonymous said...

No specific suspicion?! This is getting good.

Anonymous said...

I haven't looked, but, has Nancy Grace shown up for work today?

Anonymous said...

Nifong: "You 'could' argue that"???

Who in the Hell does he think he's kidding.

Anonymous said...

With Nifong it is sometimes difficult to tell what is caused by incompetence and what is caused by a lack of ethics. Probably both.

Anonymous said...

for the love of god, so i imagine that you go to the judge and say 'well, hey we've got these 40+ players, and some of them are innocent, some of them are suspects, but we want the authority to get their DNA'

and the judge would say 'neato'

???!!! On what OTHER basis could you get a court order compelling them to submit DNA other than being a potential suspect

have i lost my mind, can the government compel me to give them my dna for the hell of it

Anonymous said...

He does not know how to intelligently answer that question.

That's fine, just answer it in your usual way....You know, lie.

Anonymous said...

can the prosecuting attorneys show a video of some of nifong's public comments for emphasis?

Anonymous said...

I must be misreading, he did not say it was okay to use evidence gathered improperly, did he?

He couldn't have, not in public w/cameras rolling.

Anonymous said...

Here comes the good ol arrogant prick i know Nifong to be....

Anonymous said...

OK.. this may be a stupid question, but exactly what does 'NTO' stand for?

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

The banality of evil.

All of a sudden he has developed a real old boy southern accent.

Anonymous said...

> I haven't looked, but, has Nancy Grace shown up for work today?

"Who cares what Nancy Grace says?"

^_^

Anonymous said...

Nancy Grace is not on her show today. There is a stand-in along with a guest who complained that Mr. Nifong is being "pilloried."

Anonymous said...

have i lost my mind, can the government compel me to give them my dna for the hell of it

Sure, don't they round up everybody in your neighborhood periodically for DNA swabs?

They said if Bush was elected, things like this would happen.

:)

Anonymous said...

Did he just admit he used illegally obtained evidence under a fraudulent NTO to find suspects using DNA testing/ photos etc. THis is going beyond the charges but yikes.

He inadvertantly admitted pursuing a case in which the evidence would not be admissable. At the same time as making inflamatory statements.

Anonymous said...

Nancy's Grace's best moment was as a lampoon target for SNL.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 5:00 (second one): Bush comment is the best all day! Made me laugh--what a nice change from the rest of the day.

Anonymous said...

Fried.

Anonymous said...

NTO = Non-Testimonial Order

There is a great interview with Joe Cheshire on WRAL.com. It's heartening to see this guy. I am now convinced that the players and their lawyers will not stop until they have sued and recovered every cent Nifong has.

Anonymous said...

NTO - nontestimonial identification order

Anonymous said...

5:02 as long as you recognize the sarcasm.

Anonymous said...

They said if Bush was elected, things like this would happen.

Who's "they'?

Anonymous said...

I can't imagine dragging my son to this type of hearing. He is very selfish and cruel. Why didn't his wife step in to protect her son from watching his father be publically humiliated? Unbelievable.

Anonymous said...

Who's "they'?

Folks like Nifong and his enablers.

Anonymous said...

"yes sir, yes sir, yes sir, yes sir..." ad nauseum

Anonymous said...

"I Don't recall" is worse than the "yes sir", "yes ma'am"

Anonymous said...

Why doesn't Nifong just give up his license and end his humiliaiton? Does he really think he will keep hislicense or, if he does, anyone will retain him?

Self protection cries for him to say uncle, stop, here is my license. No mas. I cannot believe he allows the hole to get deeper and deeper when he can stop any time he wants just by giving up his license.

Anyone need a new cab driver? He will still have his driver's license.

Anonymous said...

Anyone need a new cab driver? He will still have his driver's license.

But, could he be trusted to make the correct change.

Mandelbrot's Chaos said...

5:24, the time for him to give up his law license has come and gone. It ended the second this hearing began. I'm no lawyer, I'm no expert on such matters, but even I knew that his resignation was a ploy to keep his license to practice law. I hope Nifong ends up in prison for a VERY long time.

Anonymous said...

The Bar attorneys should have had Jackie Brown as a witness. Don Yaeger interviewed her for his book with Mike Pressler. She was once Nifong's campaign manager who took on the job because everyone told her he was the lesser of the evils. By the time the primary rolled around, she ended up not voting for DA because she discovered he wasn't what she originally believed him to be. She stated in her interviews with Yaeger that Nifong would come out of these interviews with the press about the lacrosse case talking about what great free publicity they were.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, Nifong could probably get a job with CourtTV. I saw a little bit of their coverage today and even without Nancy Grace present, they still seemed rather sympathetic towards Nifong. It's perhaps a sad commentary on TV reporting; but he'd probably be quite the ratings draw. I wouldn't be too surprised if this Nifong sympathy was more than trying to cover their asses on previous coverage. They could be setting him up to be Nancy's partner ... or maybe he'll end up replacing Nancy someday. If THAT happened, even though I'd hate to see Nifong get that cushy TV job, I'd laugh all day at the irony!