Lane Williamson at his best, noting the apparent lack of an "ethical dimension" in Mike Nifong's conduct.
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Comments and analysis about the Duke/Nifong case (2006-2014).
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2007
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June
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- The Bitter-Enders
- Brodhead Wins a Sheldon
- Cline on Quadruple Homicide Case
- The Group in Action
- 9-22 Transcript
- The Meehan Deposition
- Smith Sets Date
- Nifong Hearing
- Nifong Deposition: Personal Issues
- Nifong Hearing Tomorrow
- Freedman: Communication Matters
- Assorted Deposition Items
- Responding to Syl Jones (and Nifong)
- Linwood Bails on Nifong
- Nifong Deposition, Part II
- Nifong Rationalizes His Statements
- More from Wonderland
- Nifong Deposition, Part I
- Linwood Is Out
- Ethical Dimension
- More Foolishness
- Nifong Hearing
- Weekly Roundup
- "Mr. Obfuscation" in Action
- The Herald-Sun: Wrong Again
- "Mr. Obfuscation"
- The Gottlieb Deposition
- Nifong as "Unique Person"
- The Wacky World of Dr. Meehan
- WRAL Headline Saturday
- Still Foolish
- Nifong: An "Old-Fashioned" Guy
- The Sanctions Motion
- Eviscerated
- The Worst of Witt: "Egregious" Mistakes
- The Worst of Witt: The DNA Evidence
- The Worst of Witt: The Neophyte Defense
- Hardin's Choices
- Nifong: What?! Non-Laxers Were There?
- Nifong: "I Don't Read Discovery Requests"
- Nifong Explains His Approach to DNA
- Nifong & Emostafa
- Chronicle Op-Ed
- "Something Happened"
- Judge Tjoflat's Perspective
- Nifong: Politics and the Press
- Jones Renews Call for Federal Inquiry
- Easley: Hardin as Interim DA
- When Suspects Aren't Suspects
- The Great Dissembler
- Nifong Defends the "Old-Fashioned Way"
- The Origin of Hooligans
- Nifong's "Law Enforcement Purpose"
- McClain: Group of 88 Defiant, Despite Settlement
- On the Bookshelf, II
- Montgomery-Blinn and NC "Innocence"
- Praising Beth Brewer
- Lane Williamson
- A Wild Day
- Nifong Is Out
- Nifong and Williamson
- Easley: Nifong Should Go Now
- Bannon on Absolute Innocence
- Duke and Three Families Settle
- Nifong Resigns . . . Eventually
- Marsha Goodenow Testimony
- Professor Bannon's Lecture
- Reflections on the Hearing
- More from Wonderland
- Beard on Nifong
- Nifong Defends Linwood Wilson
- The Himan Smoking Gun
- Brad Bannon on Nancy Grace
- Williamson Remarks
- Sunday Hearing Roundup
- Findings
- Nifong Accepts Disbarment
- MaryEllen Finnerty
- David Evans
- Bar Character Witnesses--Jerry Parnell
- Verdict
- Brocker Follow-up
- Freedman Closing
- Nifong: "Old-Fashioned Guy"
- Nifong Closing Statement
- Nifong Inconsistencies
- Nifong and DNA: Closing Statement
- Nifong False Statements
- Bar's Closing Statements, Continued
- Closing Arguments: "Minister of Injustice"
- Nifong's Selective Memory
- Mike Nifong's "Flexible" Apology
- Nifong Trial, Day Four
- Bar Rebuttal
- Nifong Character Witnesses
- Tara Levicy
- Nifong: "Something Happened"
- Nifong: "I Don't Read Files"
- N&O: Nifong Is Out
- More Nifong Cross
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June
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- "From the Scottsboro Boys to Clarence Gideon, some of the most memorable legal narratives have been tales of the wrongly accused. Now “Until Proven Innocent,” a new book about the false allegations of rape against three Duke lacrosse players, can join these galvanizing cautionary tales . . , Taylor and Johnson have made a gripping contribution to the literature of the wrongly accused. They remind us of the importance of constitutional checks on prosecutorial abuse. And they emphasize the lesson that Duke callously advised its own students to ignore: if you’re unjustly suspected of any crime, immediately call the best lawyer you can afford."--Jeffrey Rosen, New York Times Book Review
Links
Motions and Documents
- Attorney General's Report
- DNA motion
- Lineup motion
- Supplementary lineup motion
- Change of venue motion
- Bar amended complaint/Nifong response
- December 15 hearing
- State Bar v. Nifong
- Brewer removal motion
- Nifong December 28 letter to Bar
- Nifong January 16 letter to Bar
- Group of 88 statement (removed from Duke website)
- Group of 88 membership
- Transcript of relevant sections, April 4 "identification" "procedure"
11 comments:
Do Crystal and Nifong have a romantic relationship?
Well, they did have some kind of relationship I bet, and I don't mean romantic necessarily.
She has probably been picked up many times. It wouldn't be amazing if she was an informant of some kind because he had something over her. She may have made the perfect accuser if he thought he could control her. He certainly knew some of her relatives.
Maybe. Just a thought.
Linwood no longer with Durham DA Office! See N & O
3:08 -
There's been a lot of speculation as to just who may have contributed some of the unidentified DNA, and whether that might explain some of the odd decision-making Durham and Duke offialdom have been displaying over the last few months.
As I recall, this comment came at a point when Freedman was hoping to assert a kind of personality theory about Nifong: if Nifong didn't perceive his own behavior as "malicious," then we shouldn't judge it so either. Rather, Nifong was "thoughtless". After all, goes the thought, a truly malicious person would have planned with more cunning than Nifong did. In response, Williamson shows so much wisdom in side-stepping presumptions about what makes Nifong tick. He does a great job naming what can be named without overreaching, misattributing Nifong's behavior, or falsely extrapolating from "normal" behavior. Williamson's comment addressed the clearest, most specific deviance in Nifong's world-view: his incapacity for ethical reasoning. Also, this is a good description of clinical psychopathy: not determined ill-will, nor heightened self-interest, but the utter lack of cognitive processing about how one's behavior affects others', nor one's own long-term, well-being.
Christoph - it astounds me that Freedman was idiotic enough, and I use that word deliberately, to think that he could get away with using this argument to lawyers who have criminal experience. This wasn't a pitch to a jury that could be swayed by emotion, but to the Bar and although it's been popular to malign their competence (as the Herald did yesterday) they've been there and done that and seen all of this many times before.
Nifong's last defense was the last defense of every sociopath and bottom feeder who's standing in the docket and has run out of excuses. "I'm not guilty, it was an accident, I'm too stupid to have figured this out, the other guy did it, it's unfair, it's not my fault, waah waah waah waah waah!!!" Does anyone really think that perps take responsibility at the end? They just about all go through the same kind of pitiful performance at the end that Nifong did it, and the vast majority of perps have made it to that point because they're morons and couldn't think their way out of a paper bag.
And Freedman tried to make this argument to the people who have seen this exact same thing 1,000 times before? What a fool!!!
In fact, Williamson's rebuttal referred to his experiences trying lawyers who had embezzled from their own clients, more or less knowing that they would get caught too. Williamson seemed completely at ease with the inscrutability of perps' motives.
So the criminals who CAN think their way out of a paper bag...what do they do, plea bargain?
Re: Criminals who CAN think their way out of a paper bag, Case in point - Sandy Berger. Voluntarily surrendered his license and settled everything amicably behind the scenes rather than allow any kind of public hearing into what should have been a felony charge with 10 years minimum sentence. For you non-legal types, surrendering your license means that the Bar loses all jurisdiction to even hold hearings until and unless you reapply in a few years, and by then it will probably all have blown over.
Now why everyone was so happy to let him do that - just makes you wonder what else he knew, and why it was worth letting him walk to keep that part quiet.
"Ethical dimension?"
Hmmm.
Gosh, Nifey WAS acting in the ethical dimension of the 88
(subtract the one who apologized, add Claire Potter) and
in the ethical dimension of the DPD and Durhh and
Brodhead and Wendy Murphy and Nancy Grace and and and...
In their "ethical dimension," they
all approve of the actions of Nifong,
and they continue to do so - unbelievably.
Metaphorically speaking:
they claim to honor the prophets,
but they testify that they are the
children of those who killed them,
and thus approve of the murders of
the prophets.
Hard for them to proclaim - or even murmur -
their support of civil rights.
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