The Bar's ethics complaint against Mike Nifong has been amended, to include the far more serious charge of withholding evidence. The specific issue: his decision to enter into an agreement with Dr. Brian Meehan to intentionally withhold exculpatory DNA evidence, and then state repeatedly to the court that he was aware of no additional exculpatory evidence.
The complaint says that Nifong lied to the court at least five times--either in person or in writing.
The amended complaint has just been posted; I'll update a bit later today.
The N&O is also reporting that past ethics questions have been raised against Nifong investigator Linwood Wilson--who, in a highly unusual move in this case, elected to interview the accuser without any other law enforcement personnel present. In this interview, of course, she dramatically changed her story, seeming to adjust it to fit various holes in the case.
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Yes, there are times when innocent people will plead to something. Until you are in the system, you have no idea what goes on.
Look at this very case. We have stories that OBVIOUSLY are untrue, and yet look at the effort it has taken just to dislodge one set of charges. Look at the millions of dollars already spent, the hours of work by attorneys and their helpers, not to mention K.C. and others in the blogosphere, AND YET, THEY REMAIN CHARGED WITH KIDNAPPING AND SEXUAL ASSAULT.
So, you see what happens when charges are transparently false. What do you think is the case when there is an ID made and it might be mistaken, but the prosecutor swears that it is Mr. X when, indeed, Mr. Y actually was the criminal.
Again, look at THIS case. Look at how long it has lasted, what it has cost, and the damned thing still is in play. Do you think that others can fight back like the Duke families have done? Most people don't have near the resources.
If it were one of my children in the dock, we would have been tempted to plead to SOMETHING just so we would not have to live in the streets. You have to understand the awesome power of the prosecutor, who has the resources of an entire state government behind him going after someone who has only his or her own resources.
If this case has taught anything, it is that prosecutors are liars, and are people anxious to "win, win, win," and are not afraid to run innocent people into the ground in pursuit of the "big win." Start multiplying it across the country, and realize that most defendants don't have the resources that these young men have -- and this case is draining these families, too, make no mistake about it.
And Mr. Bingham, I got a blog ID and still cannot make it work. I know that it is easy, but realize that most technological things are not what I call "Ph.D. proof."
Surely if Nifong routinely lied and violated the discovery/disclosure laws, he'd be better at it, wouldn't he?
Also, to 1:03, "How does a prosecutor excel at his/her job by being fair-minded?" He or she excels because being fair-minded is almost the primary requirement for being a prosecutor. And re turning over stuff to the defense: the more it hurts to turn it over, the more constitutionally required it must be.
Transcript for today's NC State Bar proceeding can be found here:
NC Bar Transcript, Jan. 24, 2007 (PDF)
Courtesy of Jon Ham on LS.
Bill: Let's put this another way for everyone to understand.
If the three Defendants in this matter were from inner-city Durham, they would most likely have pleaded to the lesser charge, and would already be serving sentences. The only reason this dirt has come out is because the Defendants are not from this demographic, and could afford outstanding counsel.
The importance of this case cannot be underestimated from that standpoint. It shed light on prosecutorial misconduct in a very real way.
Only the NC NAACP would be too idiotic to understand they have been given a gift in the form of this case. They can now really propose measures for line-up procedures, evidence collection, investigatory techniques and other measures to protect the poorer Defendant in NC. For once, they have allies on the right who are outraged by what they have seen. This window will not open again for another twenty years, if ever again.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
This may be a little off topic, but here goes. I don't know how many people here read the FODU website, but never, ever pick on DukeEgr93. He is a fence sitter, waiting for the axe to fall one way or the other. How can you support these accused students and support Karla Holloway, at the same time. I just can't see how you can support both at the same time. Karla has already found Reide, Colin and Dave guilty, but DukeEgr93, supports her. DukeEgr93 is a member of the FODU website. His reasoning is support the Duke LAX team, but don't criticize Karla Holloway. Why is Karla immune from criticism, after what she has said to Ms. Boyd and her stance for the pot bangers. She is a disgrace to Duke University. I would never send my child to Duke, with people like Karla Holloway there or even Prof. Gustafson there.
Esq. 7.21
I always read your posts with interests The legal analysis on this blog is outstanding.
Your observation about the NAACP is spot on. I have a question, though. Why do you think of the allies provided by this case as being from the right? And does it matter from which part of the political spectrum they are?
I actually think that the NAACP is so blinded by race that it does not see allies on its own left!
re: NSVRC - looks like they've changed their "talking points" somewhat. Still crap, but changed, all the same.
http://www.nsvrc.org/publications/duke/Duke%20Case%20ltr%20Editor.pdf
Really, Esquire -- why spend your energy on actually maximizing a chance to improve the system of justice for everyone when there's so much ass-covering, agenda-pushing and payback to take care of first? Where's your sense of priorities?
Nicely done.
Dave
Here's a tinyurl, for the above site.
http://tinyurl.com/35lyvj
Disregard my previous posts. I was looking at the "letter to the editor" page.
A correct link to Kethra's email ...
7:36: A good question. You are correct that the NAACP fails to appreciate, in many instances, the larger picture. I can see how they would alienate the more moderate elements of the Left, mainly because their views are encompassing, not restrictive, in terms of race. The NAACP often fails to understand that socio-economics crosses racial boundaries. In helping the poorer members of society, you are in effect helping Blacks. That includes what I mentioned previously. The fact that this case depends entirely on a cross-racial identification by the accuser is a subject that the NAACP has tried to push for years (correctly) in that members of the opposite race have a serious problem identifying people of other races. It is more common for a Caucasian to wrongly identify an alleged Black assailant, but they never understand the opposite holds true as well. Thus, an identification case, pushed so hard by Nifong, based on a cross-racial identification is inherently flawed from its inception. The NAACP should hold consistent, and push for dismissal without hard physical evidence that a crime occurred. They would certainly do so if the roles were reversed.
In terms of this case, I have seen where one blogger termed it the "Perfect Storm." In a sense, she's right. The sense of outrage crosses political lines, but more importantly it has caught the attention of the Right, which tends to be much more law and order oriented, because of its obvious political underpinnings.
This is a rare event indeed, and the opportunity to build a dialogue has been missed. You are correct that their emphasis on the racial characteristics of the accuser has blinded them to the flip side of the argument, where they can ask for an examination of misconduct as a practice. They will point to the fact that it is more normal for a Black man to be falsely imprisoned, but they miss a golden opportunity to use this case as a jumping off point for real change to keep that from happening in the first place.
I often shake my head at the NAACP because it is readily apparent they suffer from poor leadership. Anyone with any political sense can see the opportunity sitting there to be grasped. If the NAACP were smart, they would take the reins of civil rights superiority and run with it. Instead, this issue has been grasped by the Republicans in NC, and they now have the opportunity to make inroads into the more moderate Black population that gets what's at stake, while pleasing their core constituents.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
PS: Thanks Dave.
Nancy Grace is a chicken. She's covering everything but the Nifong story tonight. I guess her pride got stuck in her throat.
7:18 PM Former prosecutor
"He or she excels because being fair-minded is almost the primary requirement for being a prosecutor.
Fair enough, but are you saying that all suspects (including all the innocent people) encounter fair-minded prosecutors without fear of intimidation or extortion via plea-bargaining? And that these 3 gentlemen falsely accused are unique?
Also,
"Surely if Nifong routinely lied and violated the discovery/disclosure laws, he'd be better at it, wouldn't he?"
This comment is creepy.
Thank you, sir.
An interesting point made by the chair in today’s hearing. He said that ALL future hearings would be public, with press allowed. He said that generally a lot of this stuff is handled with conference calls and the like but, because of press interest, he’s making everything public.
My guess is that the NC bar is doing everything in its power to avoid any semblance of “cover up” etc. They know that enough damage has been done to the perception of the NC legal system and don’t want any of that landing on their shoulders.
By bringing these public charges (far more serious than the previous ones) now, the bar might also be giving political cover to the AG. Just that fact that they were made while there are still outstanding charges, indicates that the bar thinks everything about the case is bad. I said earlier that the bar was under no compunction to bring these charges now and could have waited until the end of the criminal proceedings. Indeed, the chair even mentioned timing in relation to the criminal proceedings in his statements.
So now the AG has the cover provided by the bar if he wants to get out of this mess.
Crystal Gail Mangum loaded her Magnum and put 3 bullets in Reade's, Dave's, and Collin's brains.
What is society saying to the predator?
Good girl, you got them, and, by the way, each was a free shot.
Unless this predator's primitive behavior is criminalized, nothing has been won from this Kafkaesque tableau.
Fuck Murphy. Let's go after our Precious whore.
RP
Wendy Murphy is now a 'Child Advocate' on O'Reilly and is lending her 'expertise' to the Missouri adbuction & recovery case. Maybe she's decided to move on.
8:03 "Fair enough, but are you saying that all suspects (including all the innocent people) encounter fair-minded prosecutors without fear of intimidation or extortion via plea-bargaining? And that these 3 gentlemen falsely accused are unique?"
Absolutely not, 8:03. I'm simply saying that to excel, a prosecutor must be fair-minded. Otherwise, there are way too many pitfalls if you try to get cute with the defense, not to mention the whole sleeping well at night thing.
And as for my slight joke (that Fong should be better at this, with all the practice we suspect he's had) being "creepy", well, sorry!
When I served my fourteen years as a prosecutor, I pinned to my cheapo cork board the words of Robert Jackson, Attorney General of the US and prosecutor at Nuremberg. On April 1, 1940, after only three months in office, he gave a speech to the assembled federal prosecutors. See the whole speech, short and well worth reading at: www.roberthjackson.org/Man/theman2-7-6-1
The part I put up on my board was the conclusion to his speech:
"The qualities of a good prosecutor are as elusive and as impossible to define as those which mark a gentleman. And those who need to be told would not understand it anyway. A sensitiveness to fair play and sportsmanship is perhaps the best protection against the abuse of power, and the citizen’s safety lies in the prosecutor who tempers zeal with human kindness, who seeks truth and not victims, who serves the law and not factional purposes, and who approaches his task with humility."
When I retired I brought the tattered paper home. Nifong needed a copy.
I also appreciate Cedarford's advocacy. Going up against the Feminist Industry with their billions in federal funding from such bills as the Violence Against Women Act is difficult. Others have tried the tact Cedarford is suggesting but it rarely works because the one thing politicians fear more than being labeled racist is being labeled sexist.
How often are rape accusations false? It depends on what you believe. Stats that show accusations are rare assume that unless a woman is accused of making a false accusation (rare) they must be telling the truth whether a guilty verdict was reached or not. Of course you could say unless a guilty verdict is reached she must be lying. The truth is somewhere in between but false accusations are more common than most realize.
Why should a he said/she said case ever be pursued? The idea that such cases can get to trial where a jury has to guess at who is telling the truth ought to scare all of us to death.
Has anyone read the NC bar transcript posted at 7:20? How collegial!
I understand civility, but this guy is up against some serious charges. Can't we have a little indignation here?
dl
Esq. 8.01
Thanks for the answer. I live in NC and I am not under the impression that the Republicans have seized this case as an opportunity to present themselves as the party of justice for all. I have yet to hear them make the connection between this miscarriage of justice and the unfortunate history of miscarriages against blacks and the poor of which we all are painfully aware. It would be a very good turn of events when this happens. Perhaps then we'll start looking at someone's arguments in terms of his/her belief in justice for all and knowledge of the facts instead of his/her political label.
As an insider (I happen to be the Duke Prof that posted here a few days ago and whose identity was somehow doubted) I can say that your analysis of the NAACP applies to the 88/87. Their inability to move away from traditional political/sociological labels blinds them to the true opportuiniy that this case offers. Some of us see that opportunity and prefer to work from the inside to try to grasp it and redirect the discussion on campus. It is not easy, and starting an internal war would defeat the purpose.
I think that the statement that the Econ. Department issued on Jan 10 is the right approach. Hopefuly, as the evidence against the perpetrators of this travesty in the courts mounts, and as more and more people sign the petition based on that statement, we will succeed in bringing some of our colleagues to see things differently.
I do appreciate the insights that so many posters on this blog are offering. I look forward to reading more.
-Esquire-3:16 PM
"SULAX: The Bar is only interested in those matters that violate the Rules of Professional Conduct. The Const. Rights of the accused are not implicated explicitly by those Rules. That's a matter for a Court of Law to decide."
Which is exactly why I'm surprised they went out of their way to cite a violation of the U.S. Constitution. Citing Bar rules and relevant state law would have more than sufficed. I think they cited the Constitutional aspect in order to send a message as to the egregious nature of this and the fact that it may have consequences beyond what they can ajudicate.
Regarding the oft quoted Prosecutor definition, although impressive,I do not feel it is quite accurate. There is no great secret or recipe to what makes a good D.A. Every lawyer learns what makes a prosecuter, probably in their first year of law school. First, his or her job is to bring out the TRUTH. It is not to get a conviction or a good plea bargain. The second requirement is to provide the DEFENDANT with a fair trial. Mr. Nifong ignored both tenets. Lastly, if his blather is to be believed in the slightest, he sees himself as the lawyer for the alleged victim. He is not. His job is to represent "The People of the State of North Carolina" That means all of them.....witnesses, defendants, victims etc. He has failed at all three requirements
anonymous 8:38pm --
Welcome to this comment section. If you are are just posing as a Duke professor, then you are spinning a comforting and distracting yarn.
If you are a prof, the picture you paint of some of your peers trying as "insiders" to change faculty perceptions is interesting. It would be worth exploring.
As discussed on one of yesterday's threads, I hope you figure out a way to establish your position without compromising your privacy.
Even if you are content to occasionaly comment as one of us regular folks, I suggest you "Choose an identity", e.g. sign up for a Google/Blogger account and pick a pseudonym.
Otherwise--as you can tell from reading this far down this thread--it can be fairly difficult for readers to distinguish one "anonymous" from another.
AMac-2007@usa dot net
Do lawyers have the same "blue wall of silence" that Nifong claimed the Lacrosse players had?
8:38: I do not think you will have to wait long for that spin to begin. The Republican Party in NC is now taking baby steps, starting to make noise about holding prosecutors accountable for any such actions. The obvious beneficiaries of this approach are the people who are the major targets of prosecutions. They will put two and two together faster than you may think.
As for an insider war, simply tell your label-ridden colleagues that a little revolution is a good thing. When their heads stop spinning, hopefully they will awaken from the insulated coccoon in which they have lived and join the rest of us in the real world.
The cloistered world of academia needs a bit of shaking every once in awhile. Don't hide from the battle, 'tis the risin' of the moon. Grab the issue and run with it, use the media, get sophisticated. The sophomoric tactics used by many of these same professors are rudimentary.
This should be child's play. It's a battle they can't win, so I seriously doubt they will engage.
At least that's how I look at it.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
Why haven't the sexual assault charges against Reade been dropped when the accuser claims he didn't touch her? What is the new prosecutor waiting for? Now that the FA has told one truth, does the prosectuor think she's lying? Durham in wonderland it is! Where truths are lies and lies are truth?
SULAX: A message for those who followed after. Quite possible.
But it also may be an attempt to defeat the Legislature and their calls for laws to prosecute DA's that utilize such tactics. See? They can clean their own house. Machiavellian, a bit more so then I give them credit for, but still a possibility.
It is interesting, and worthy of following. A good pick-up on your part.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
Joan Foster - i quess it was the holidays, but I just read your Xmas in Hoaxland - terrific - I am still laughing out loud. I have like most of your pieces but this is the best.
GPrestonian 7:09PM,
That is exactly what I was thinking when I asked the question.
He slipped.
below the keel is just a lot of water.....
you should have stopped at below the waterline.
5:05 PM
actually no.
many modern torpedoes are designed to explode under the keel. Breaking the back of a ship into 2 pieces is a lot faster than punching holes in the sides. One can survive 2-3 holes in the side, having the bow break off and the engines driving the stern down ito the water as all the stern compartments fail can ruin ones day.
Amac,
Speaking as an occasional troll, I think the above professor is legit, and I would venture that a lot of Duke professors have found this site.
Part of the fun of being a troll is writing really stupid stuff. Why would someone write as a professor if what they write is so tame?
My advice is not to challenge them--encourage them to make their point.
BTW, this is definitely not yesterday's professor: this guy's not arrogant.
Just 1 troll's point of view.
RP
8:38 PM:
I agree that the Republicans have not exactly seized the day here. After years of "believe the prosecutors and police," the Republicans will have to do some serious re-thinking.
Democrats USED to be the party of civil liberties, but Bill Clinton and Janet Reno took care of that. Granted, they look good compared to the Bushies and Alberto Gonzales and John Ashcroft, but on any kind of decent civil liberties scale, the Democrats are bad, too.
The ACLU still has taken a powder here, which tells me that the organizations that claim to be watchdogs for civil liberties have decided to be lapdogs of special interests. As most sad state of affairs.
many modern torpedoes are designed to explode under the keel. Breaking the back of a ship into 2 pieces is a lot faster than punching holes in the sides. One can survive 2-3 holes in the side, having the bow break off and the engines driving the stern down ito the water as all the stern compartments fail can ruin ones day.
Under those cicumstances, I imagine David Farragut would have been more circumspect.
If you really want to silence people like Wendy Murphy, go after the fools that provide them with a public platform. People like O'Reilly use them as an outrageous foil to make their own positions look stronger. Contact the specific shows that use these idiots as pundits and tell them that you're on to their little ratings game (writing sponsors helps too). I'm afraid that this whole sorry episode boils down to money and power
Bill A.,
There's actually just one watchdog group fighting for civil liberties in the law arena as far as I'm aware; that's the Institute for Justice. ACLU clearly doesn't fight for liberties of any sort (except sexual liberties, which is fine, but a very limited arena of liberty to fight for...).
Full disclosure: I hope to work for IJ eventually.
(edit for clarity)
If you really want to silence people like Wendy Murphy, go after the fools that provide them with a public platform. People like O'Reilly use them as an outrageous foil to make their own positions look stronger. Contact the specific shows that use these idiots as pundits and tell them that you're on to their little ratings game (writing sponsors helps too). I'm afraid that this whole sorry episode boils down to money and power
9:56 PM
Kethra did that with an email, and Cedarford also has been putting the pressure on these groups. I have worked on Campus Security's executive director in trying to get her to see the truth.
But Wendy Murphy no more should have a platform than Jack the Ripper. This woman is a loose cannon, period. Law professor? I don't think so.
Why does anyone care about Murphy?
You might as well be complaining about the inferior pornography comung out of Finland.
RP
RP 9.40
Glad to see that you now think I am legit. Thanks, I guess, for the "not arrogant" remark.
You are correct. Several of us are keeping up with the blogs - this one especially. It might surprise you, but we do not wish to hide in our cocoon, we want to know what folks in the real world think.
However, we have no wish (I surely do not) to be harassed, abused or insulted - especially by people who have limited information about what happens within Duke. As the "peer reviewer" of my post of last Sat. pointed out, this blog by and large manages to remain civil. The fewer the outbursts, the more of us will show up.
I was very pleased to see that last night a colleague from the English Dept. showed up willing to engage in a discussion. That is precisely the kind of people you wnat to engage if you want to have an insight about why the 88/87 cannot understand why people "in the real world" read their statement the way they do. People like me cannot offer any insight since we do not think about the world in terms of the categories that they use. You really need to hear from them if you are genuinely curios about what drove them to sign those statements.
If I may, a last observation. Some of us fail to see how going after the 88/87 helps the three accused players in their judicial nightmare. I, for one, am willing to concede that the faculty needs to enagage in tough self-criticism. I see that as a separate issue from the judicial case, however. The priority now is that all charges be dropped and the THREE (I humbly apologize for my previosu mistake) students and their families start rebuilding their lives. In due time the broader issues at Duke will be discussed.
Anyone who posts anything on the FODU website should be ashamed of themslef for the censorship that goes on there.
Anon. 8:38PM,
Thanks for coming back.
Interesting point of view.
Bill Anderson is correct about those providing forums for Wendy Murphy. So is it true that the Poynter Institute is putting her on one of its panels? Are the Poynter executives unaware of her abysmal record in the lacrosse frame-up case?
NY TIMES
By FERNANDA SANTOS
Published: January 24, 2007
AUBURN, N.Y., Jan. 23 — Roy Brown, who spent 15 years in prison on a murder conviction and uncovered evidence while there that linked another man to the crime, was released from prison on Tuesday after DNA tests on the other man’s exhumed body matched saliva on a nightshirt at the crime scene.
After 15 years behind bars, Mr. Brown stepped out of court into a light snowfall and gently pushed his way through a cluster of relatives who vied for his attention. The reception was fine, he said, but he is too sick with liver disease to stand on his feet for long.
“Changes have got to be made, man,” Mr. Brown said later at a lawyer’s office across the street, answering questions in a monotone as he rested awkwardly in a black swivel chair. “They say the wheels of justice move slowly, but you know what? The wheels of justice are flat.”
Mr. Brown, 46, is the eighth person in New York State exonerated through DNA evidence in the past 13 months, more than in any other state during the same period.
The DNA tests that freed him confirmed the results of his own jailhouse investigation, in which he discovered documents that incriminated Barry Bench, a volunteer firefighter, in the murder of Sabina Kulakowski, 49, a social worker who had lived with Mr. Bench’s brother until months before her death. Earlier DNA tests conducted by Mr. Brown’s lawyers linked Mr. Bench’s daughter, Katherine Eckstadt, to the genetic code lifted from the saliva on Ms. Kulakowski’s nightshirt.
Mr. Bench jumped to his death in front of an Amtrak train in 2003, five days after Mr. Brown mailed him a letter accusing him of the crime.
The Cayuga County district attorney, James B. Vargason, ordered Mr. Bench’s body exhumed after a hearing here last month during which Judge Peter E. Corning declined to vacate Mr. Brown’s conviction. Mr. Vargason, who prosecuted the case in 1992, argued that the earlier DNA tests were irrelevant without a paternity test proving that Mr. Bench was Miss Eckstadt’s father.
But on Tuesday, Mr. Vargason joined the defense’s motion to release Mr. Brown, and Judge Mark H. Fandrich, who took over the case upon Judge Corning’s retirement, offered an apology before setting Mr. Brown free.
“I’m sorry it’s taken such a long time for you to come to this day,” Judge Fandrich said. “I’m happy for you and your family. Good luck to you, sir.”
One of Mr. Brown’s lawyers, Nina Morrison, said he has no money, does not know where he is going to live, and suffers from hepatitis C and cirrhosis of the liver.
He had been released from jail just days before Ms. Kulakowski’s slaying, after serving eight months for threatening another social worker in her office, a man who had ordered Mr. Brown’s daughter removed from his home. He did not know Ms. Kulakowski, who was found bitten, stabbed, beaten and strangled on May 23, 1991, outside the farmhouse where she lived in the town of Aurelius.
Some new information was disclosed in court on Tuesday. Peter J. Neufeld, another of Mr. Brown’s lawyers, said that Peter J. Pinckney, who investigated the murder, had dismissed a firefighter’s suspicions about Mr. Bench’s involvement because he knew Mr. Bench and thought him incapable of killing anyone. Mr. Pinckney was later elected sheriff of Cayuga County but resigned in 2002 after pleading guilty to stealing from a drug investigation fund.
Also revealed on Tuesday was that one of the nation’s leading forensic odontologists, Dr. Lowell Levine, analyzed the bite marks on Ms. Kulakowski’s body before trial and told the district attorney at the time, Paul A. Carbonaro, that the one mark he could interpret “excluded” Mr. Brown, according to copies of Dr. Levine’s handwritten notes. But Mr. Carbonaro never asked Dr. Levine to file an official report, Mr. Brown’s lawyers said Tuesday. Instead, the prosecutors relied on another expert, a local dentist, whose testimony helped convict Mr. Brown.
Even as he supported Mr. Brown’s release, Mr. Vargason said he would not dismiss the indictment against him, and that he needs another month to reinvestigate the case so as to “follow avenues of inquiry that were possibly underdeveloped or even ignored in 1991.” Judge Fandrich will rule on the indictment on March 5.
Meanwhile, Mr. Brown said he will work on “picking up the pieces.” After his release, he went out to eat lasagna with his stepfather and siblings.
As he was about to leave court, Mr. Brown blurted out, “I can’t wait to play Pac-Man.” He looked sorely disappointed when one of his nieces, a perky teenager, told him that the popular 1980s arcade game is now a collector’s item.
The Drill SGT,
Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club - '66.
Simon.
Prosecutorial Misconduct The Volokh Conspiracy
anon. 9:47PM,
David Farragut was actually dealing with mines. Torpedos are a more modern invention. Around 1870 I think.
More Ethics Charges Brought Against Official in Duke Case
By DUFF WILSON
The North Carolina State Bar filed a second, more serious round of ethics charges yesterday against the district attorney in Durham, N.C., accusing him of “systematic abuse of prosecutorial discretion” in the sexual assault case against three former members of the Duke University lacrosse team.
The bar complaint said the district attorney, Michael B. Nifong, had illegally withheld DNA evidence from defense lawyers and then intentionally misled the presiding judge and bar officials about doing so.
The new charges added to a previous ethics complaint accusing Mr. Nifong of making false and prejudicial remarks about the case to the news media. A three-member independent panel is expected to hear the matter against him this summer. Penalties could include disbarment.
Mr. Nifong’s lawyer, David B. Freedman, denied yesterday that there had been “any sort of intentional unethical conduct.” In a telephone interview, Mr. Freedman said that Mr. Nifong had a “flawless record” for ethics in 28 years as a prosecutor and that a written response, to be issued within 30 days, would give his side of the case.
“I have great confidence the panel will render a fair and just verdict,” Mr. Freedman said.
The case against the former players is being reviewed by the state attorney general’s office, which took it over from Mr. Nifong after he recused himself on Jan. 12. At the time, he said he faced a conflict of interest between prosecuting the case and defending himself against the first set of ethics charges, filed Dec. 28.
Much of the new ethics complaint focuses on Mr. Nifong’s handling of private DNA testing and his remarks to a judge and bar officials about it. Those tests were arranged by Mr. Nifong after a state laboratory found no semen, blood or saliva from lacrosse players on or in the woman or on her clothes. Using a more sophisticated test, the private laboratory found DNA from multiple men on the woman and her underwear, but none from any of the lacrosse players.
Mr. Nifong and the lab director decided to tell defense lawyers only about the positive matches, including a link to the woman’s boyfriend, in a summary report of the DNA work, said the bar, a state agency that regulates lawyers in North Carolina. The negative findings, which the bar said “tended to negate the guilt of the accused,” were included only in laboratory reports not given to defense lawyers for more than six months.
North Carolina law requires prosecutors to share all relevant information with defense lawyers promptly. Mr. Nifong told the judge in the case that he had turned over everything he had — “a misrepresentation and false statement of material fact made to a tribunal,” the bar wrote. Mr. Nifong later objected to a defense request to turn over the full laboratory reports, citing cost and privacy concerns and terming the papers sought “a witch hunt list,” the bar said.
Mr. Nifong said in court on Dec. 15 that a defense motion two days earlier on the withheld DNA results was “the first I heard of this particular situation.” Later he said he had meant that it was the first he had heard of defense accusations that the results had been concealed, not that they existed. But the bar said the accusations themselves had not been raised until after Mr. Nifong spoke in court.
In an interview last month, Mr. Nifong agreed that the DNA results had been potentially exculpatory, but said they had not seemed important to him because he was no longer then pursuing the case on the basis of DNA evidence.
10:37 PM:
I just am pissed that Peter Neufeld, when interviewed about his case and the lack of DNA, decided to shill for the prosecution. Neufeld's remarks forever make me lose respect for the Innocence Project.
Yes, they do great work, but Neufeld should have known that the lack of DNA in this case should have meant something. Guess he had to go back to his PC roots.
Good night, all! A very good day, indeed. I like my Fong well done, thank you. One corrupt prosecutor down, and many more to go.
I NEED EVERYONE'S ATTENTION...
the people and resources of this thread can save a life...
Cedarford can lead the way...
Bill Anderson...please read this story
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=wilson
i'm sure the link didn't work...it is the lead story on espn.com right now...
genarlow wilson...great athlete, good student...sentenced to 10 years with no parole for consensual oral sex with a 15 year old when he was 17...
the story is too outrageous for me to type correctly...
it has so many prosecutorial parallels to the duke case...
good thing is we can save this kid, i think...
the prosecutor is quoted as saying that he has the power to end the travesty tomorrow...LET"S MAKE HIM!!!
it could be the first great act accomplished by the DIW bloggers...
we have the power on this board...c'mon esquire...
i want US to save this kid...
please organize an effort cedarford or anyone competent and i'm sure the posters will do the rest...
I URGE YOU WITH ALL MY WILL TO FOLLOW MY LINK OR GO TO ESPN.COM AND FIND THE STORY...
i humbly thanks you...all of you, steeltruth
Professor,
Thank you for your comments.
Posters on this blog believe that the G88's Listening Statement scared the shit out of Brodhead, inflencing Brodhead not to censure Nifong early on. Do you agree?
Do you think that women's and black studies foment antimale and antiwhite bigotry?
Do you think that the above-referenced studies are obsolete and a drain on Duke's budget?
Do you think the lack of full professors in Japanese and Chinese literature is a joke?
Yours,
Roman Polanski
this is another attempt to correctly link the story i quoted above...
if this link fails to be 'live', please will someone link the story here for me...
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/
story?page=wilson
this case is appalling and needs the attention and power that resonates from ALL OF YOU...
i honestly believe WE can get ACTION from this prosecutor and make a difference in this young man's life...
you will be very interested to hear Dallas Mavericks' owner Marc Cuban's thoughts on this travesty of justice...
PLEASE HELP
What the dear god hell? I'd be happy to link Genarlow's story, steeltruth.
If the facts are as the ESPN reporter detailed them, this is truly an outrage.
Steel:
I've been following that case. It was in Georgia I believe. The statute does not make a four year difference in age in application (In MD for instance, It's 14/18, 15/19, 16/20). He was sent to prison for a mandatory minimum of ten years.
Awful miscarriage of justice. In that one, Daddy Warbucks was angry because his daughter was dating a Black kid. GA will do nothing, and the Jury was horrified after the convicted him. They had no clue he would go to prison for ten years.
Let me know what I can do.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
By the way, the term in legal circles for this madness is "overcriminalization." The situation where everything imaginable is criminalized.
Thus, perfectly sane police officers have to patrol the local 7/11 to make sure kids under 18 are not getting cigarettes, prosecuting seniors dating sophomores in HS, investigating pranks as felonies.
It starts getting absurd. It takes away from stopping the murders going on around the corner. Common sense goes down the drain together with police resources.
Something to think about folks.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
A 17 year old gets ten years for getting a blowie? And the DA won't do anything about it until the kid crawls for mercy?
I break the law every day. Multiple times every day. I exceed speed limits, I fail to fully stop at stop signs, I've even been known to snitch a grape at the grocery store to see how good they are.
Under Genarlow rules, I ought to be in the cell next to him.
BA,
Has it ever seemed ironic to you that your initials are BA, even though you're a PhD? Maybe it's just me.
It's the next day; we agree; I don't care at all about the post anymore. I just never thought I'd be taken as a critic of TS!
I think to remove a post you must have been on an account when you posted it. No biggie. Appreciate the effort.
Where do you teach? What field are you in?
While Bernstein works on every possible legal solution, the Douglas County District Attorney's Office has the power to get Wilson out of prison. If the prosecution wanted, this could all end tomorrow. The D.A.'s office says Bernstein hasn't asked. Bernstein says she has. Not that any legal he said/she said matters. Only the prosecutors' opinion does, and according to at least one legal expert, prosecutorial ego is more of a factor in this case than race. The folks in Douglas County are playing god with Genarlow Wilson's life.
"We can set aside his sentence," Barker says. "Legally, it's still possible for us to set aside his sentence and give him a new sentence to a lesser charge. But it's up to us. He has no control over it."
The position of Barker and the district attorney, McDade, who refused to comment, is that Wilson is guilty under the law and there is no room for mercy, though the facts seem to say they simply chose not to give it to Wilson. At the same time this trial was under way, a local high school teacher, a white female, was found guilty of having a sexual relationship with a student -- a true case of child molestation. The teacher received 90 days. Wilson received 3,650 days.
Now, if Wilson wants a shot at getting out, he must throw himself at the prosecutors' feet and ask for mercy, which he might or might not receive. Joseph Heller would love this. If Wilson would only admit to being a child molester, he could stop receiving the punishment of one. Maybe.
"Well," Barker says, "the one person who can change things at this point is Genarlow. The ball's in his court."
i will post phone numbers and e-mail addresses for the prosecutor tomorrow...
pressure! pressure! pressure
Steeltruth 10:56 PM said:
sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=wilson
Wouldn't his actions fall under 18 US 241 and 242?
241
If two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States ... They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years
242
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both"
Since there were other people involved, I think it easily falls under the legal definition of conspiracy, but IANAL (I am not a lawyer).
New post is up folks.
-Esq-
JB
You misused "ironic."
RP
RP
"Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs"
My joke was that he being a Dr. of P., I'd expect his initials to be anything but BA.
just busting your balls--it's a pet peeve of mine--that word gets clobbered in our language
Duke prof didn't respond to my queries. Oh well
RP
7:18 PM, 8:24 PM - Former prosecutor
Thanks for your time and answers. There are always a few outstanding professionals in any field. My hats off to you, Ma'am.
Cedarford, I was about to cry foul and say, no, my beloved NPR would never give air time to this lying POS, but looks like you are right...
NPR Search
For a laugh, check out how many times her field of expertise changes, and on what wide ranging topics. Yeah, I'm sure she's an *expert* on each and every one.
Ugh, she disgusts me.
Cedarford 12:56AM,
Actually the result can be better explained by genetics, some get over it and some don't .
PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System
Click on the CB1 receptor link a the above site.
Esq Md (at 8.01pm)
I agree that the NAACP is being incredibly short sighted. They could be establishing themselves as interested in justice, then using that to change laws to better protect their constituency.
I'm reminded of NOW during Clinton's bimbo eruptions. Does anyone take them as seriously as before?
I was just thinking about how narrowly the lacrosse team has escaped (assuming a rational conclusion of these events).
The alleged victim was in their bathroom. There is evidence that the boys were not meticulous housekeepers (not surprising, of course; I have two sons). Potential contamination was all over the area (up to and including some previous semen deposits).
Where would we be if the alleged victim had picked up some stray DNA on her private parts. The DNA test run by Dr. Meehan was sensitive enough to pick up 1 incredibly small sample contamination by his own DNA.
Think of the situation we would be in if similar contamination evidence had been found belonging to a lacrosse player.
I boycott CNN and Nancy Disgrace. If Goslee or Murphy show up on another news channel, I chang stations immediately. I will not give there pople any validity by listening to the. Have emailed Bill about his choice of guests. Although, I am a liberal Democrate, I get a kick out of Bill.
Steeltruth
You need to do for Genarlow what KC has done for the 3 lax players
This poor child! How can this be?
Start your own blog...contact FOX, O'Reilly, anyone who will take the story nationwide
Steeltruth
Where is the NAACP when it comes to Genarlow? Maybe they need Jackson and Sharpton...this is awful news
Steeltruth
Where is the NAACP when it comes to Genarlow? Maybe they need Jackson and Sharpton...this is awful news
Nifong = Nofang?
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