Today’s N&O has an excellent Niolet/Neff article examining those other than Mike Nifong whose reputation rose and fell as a result of last week’s hearings. Among those whose reputation rose: Disciplinary Hearing Commission chairman Lane Williamson. These excerpts from his summary statement are one reason why Williamson received such praise.
I notice they say that meehan will be in trouble on cross in future trials.
ReplyDeleteHow about past cases he testfied in, shouldn't they now be looked at again?
Mike Knifong was humming in his head:
ReplyDeletePapa Smurf don't preach
I'm in trouble deep
Papa Smurf don't preach
I've been losing sleep
But I made up my mind
I'm keeping this baby
I'm gonna keep my baby
I think the tune in Nifong's head was "I Did It My Way"
ReplyDeleteAnd now, the end is near,
And so I face the final curtain.
I think nifong was thinking.
ReplyDeleteWilliamson can see through every single bit of my bullshit.
Read me like a cheap novel.
The remark about not being able to really appreciate the harm done to these three players really hits home. There are far too many people who STILL believe that they are guilty. If (God forbid) one day one of them acts out violently against one of the players (or in a case of mistaken identity involving physical resemblance, a similar name), Nifong, Grace, the New Black Panther Party, and the 88 will have to share a piece of the blame.
ReplyDeleteIf KENDRA MONTGOMERY-BLINN as "the first director of the new N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission, where her job is to screen requests from prison inmates claiming innocence," didn't read the AG report completing exonerating the LAX players, what kind of a director is she?
ReplyDeleteSHE needs to be replaced immediately.
I can understand her testifying to the fact that Nifong had always been honest (in the past), but I didn't like her assertion that the DA needs to prosecute those whom HE'S convinced are guilty. As Lane Williamson said, that's a jury's duty, not the prosecutor's.
gotc
On the plus side of the leader I would have mentioned Marsha Goodenow.
ReplyDeletere: 11:14
ReplyDeleteTonySoprano has a video of Nifong sung to "My Way". Look it up on YouTube.
Frankie, we never knew you!
ReplyDeleteMikey's_Way
Debrah
Without top level defense attorneys and lucky DNA check, it would be Governor Nifong or Senator Nifong, instead of inmate #7822013.
ReplyDeleteIt was so close for Mikey..
Saunders
ReplyDeleteBarry Saunders is never....never....quite able just to comment and write on anything regarding race unless he descends into a sleazy Gang of 88 and Victoria Peterson mentality. He thinks always that childish humor from a 50-something columnist mitigates his gross and ever-present bias.
And to think, this man was allowed to have his columns on the N&O editorial pages for years...no questions asked.
I think that Steve Ford--the only one on their editorial pages who even pretends to be objective and who values decorum--must have gotten tired of this crapola.
Barry Saunders is a bitch of a man to the end.
Debrah
Saunders
ReplyDeleteSaunders redux.
Debrah
Redux_redux
ReplyDeleteMust be a conspiracy.
Debrah
One of Nifong's self-serving statements during his tearful resignation speech attempts to
ReplyDeleteunbelievably portray he and his family as victims, too.
"For the last 14 months, unintentionaly, my family and
the Finnerty, Seligman, and
Evans families have kinda been joined at the hip. Everything that affects one of us affects the other."
He couldn't be more mistaken. Nifong's actions were a one-way street. To this point the defendants families themselves were powerless to affect Nifong or his family.
I suspect that will be changing
shortly and then Nifong will feel
the wrath. But he still won't be the victim, just the perpetrator.
I assume that Montgomery-Blinn serves at the pleasure of the Governor? If so, he needs to get rid of her ASAP. She is clearly the wrong person for the top job at any legitimate Innocence Commission. The notion that she was not familar with this case is laughable.
ReplyDeleteLane Williamson is awesome. He did a great job and was never pedantic or holier than thou. His pointing out that Nifong still believes shows that Nifong cannot be trusted in the future. I think that Nifong, knowing that his license would be pulled, did not want to alienate his only friends--the radical black Durham lobby headed by Victoria Peterson. He knew that if he backed away from the Crystal as victim scenario then he would forfit potential employment in his area of expertise--racebaiting.
ReplyDeleteHow about installing Montgomery-Blinn as the new DA?
ReplyDeleteShe seems to fullfill all the requirements for Durham public official.
I love it ...the sheriff visited Nifong at home today to serve him the judge's immediate suspension order:
ReplyDeleteDurham County Sheriff Worth Hill went to Nifong's house with a deputy to serve the order Tuesday morning.
"We took his keys and his badge that gave him access to the building," Hill said. "We'll make arrangements to help him get his personal belongings later."
The whole montgomery-Blinn thing is one of the most disturbing - and surreal- aspects of the hearing.
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to grant her the presumption of good faith and assume she really did consider MN an ethical guy (how much could she possibly REALLY know about him?), but didnt she have enough sense to realize how badly such testimony would compromise her ability to do her job with the Innocence Commission? Especially the comment about him being her "mentor"!
She's obviously not very bright in addition t having noo common sense. Oy.
Mike Nifong will not go to jail, he will not survive this ordeal. It is too humiliating, too overwhelming. He will remain a coward to the very end...brought about by his own hand.
ReplyDeleteMikey won't kill himself.
ReplyDeleteNarcissists never hurt the one they love best.
I could watch this over and over. It's been 14 months of waiting for Mr. Nifong to BEGIN to get what's coming to him, and I hope every day from this day forth makes him wonder what the HELL is going to happen to him next. That's how he made 46 families feel last spring.
ReplyDeleteJust denying everyone on this blog the opportunity to see him get skewered would be reason enough to off himself.
ReplyDeleteI have wondered this for months:
ReplyDeletewhen they make the movie, will the
actor playng Nifong have to wear a big wart on his forehead?
2:21
ReplyDeleteNo, but the mark of Cain might be appropriate.
Okay,the good guys won. Let's stop spiking the ball and gloating.
ReplyDeleteWishing someone dead is not appropriate anymore. The families may continue reading here and I don't think this kind of talk would make any of the young men proud of their supporters. Let's show some class ---- they sure did.
There's too much disdain for Nifong on this board to want hime dead. Now that Duke has taken itself and the Gang of 88 off the hook, who else would be left? Please, Mikey, put down that axe!
ReplyDeleteKC
ReplyDeleteHopefully you will tackle the levicy vs DPD discrepancies. Gott. says there were numerous meetings b/w him and levicy whereas levicy from her testimony suggests this is not true... Didn't she also meet with D. Kingbury (SP?) about meetings with the DPD... something (a lot of things) are not adding up?
Thanks and Great Job- KC!!!!!!!!!
I think that it is particularly important to remember Mr. Williamson's comment that this case was a test of character, which some people passed and in which some people were found wanting.
ReplyDeleteThere is no question that the three players and their families, irrespective of whatever boorish behavior the young men might have demonstrated, showed themselves to be really strong and honest people. The same goes for the Pressler family, not to mention James Coleman and an extraordinary group of attorneys.
The Duke Chronicle had exemplary coverage, although we especially need to remember the early columns by Boston Cote, which really helped to turn around the environment on campus before her graduation in May 2006. The N&O, after a horrific stumble with the March 25 article on honor student and single mother CGM, was relentless, particularly Joseph Neff.
And last but not least, I don't know how KC found the time and energy to prepare such an elaborate and reasoned website. If he made any mistakes after so many posts, I really can't think of any, which is remarkable.
Unfortunately, those who were found wanting are legion. They include not only Nifong, but also many in the Duke administration (Brodhead, Burness, Alleva, et. al.). It's little wonder they were so anxious to settle and settle quickly. The gang of 88 were more punks than intellectuals, and their arguments were so weak and unconvicing that they couldn't even defend them in a public forum.
Needless to say, Bob Ashley and the Herald Sun were an absolutely embarrassment. He may have been the editor of the Duke Chronicle many years ago, but it must have been a real rag back then.
Durham Police Chief Chalmers and City Manager Baker were pathetic, as were Gottlieb. Himan, and Wilson.
So I guess you can't tell a person's character until the chips are down, and this tragic case turned out to be as great a test as these people will ever face. I hope Dave Evans, Reade Seligman, and Collin Finnerty received a lot of money from my alma mater, and I hope they will receive even more from the city of Durham.
To Michael 11:14
ReplyDeleteThe Nifong "My Way" video is hilarious. As long as we are in a Frank Sinatra mood, somebody has to do a CGM video to "The Lady is a Tramp."
What a week - Nifong trial, the US Open and a Closer marathan. The Innocent project took a hit with the Director.
ReplyDeleteCome to think of it, why would a defense attorney share information from a deposition with the public. Makes no sense.
Williamson was amazing.
ReplyDeleteObviously Nifong thought he could go in an brazenly lie his way through the whole thing, and get away with it -- just like he's been doing all his life.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is just about the part where it began to sink in -- "They're not buying it -- any of it!!!"
Imagine his shock -- or rather, watch it in his face, as the weasels of fear and panic begin to gnaw on his testicles. Hawhawhawww!
6:36
ReplyDeleteGood one - never heard it put that way before, and I am still laughing... weasels...
There really are a lot of black-hats/white-hats in this saga.
ReplyDelete(That isn't a racial profile, BTW.)
Cooper and Neff were big;
City Council was important, lately.
And the students' attorneys? Makes
me want to quit my line of work
and become an attorney - except
for the fact that I haven't got
a quarter of the candle-power that
these guys have.
Williamson was brilliant.
I suspect that he wants the NC
system of justice to be a great
example, rather than a great example
of merde. He and the Bar may
well have brought the state into
the 21st century, and then some.
It should also serve as a forewarning
that the historical past is not
going to be tolerated.
I hope the black-hats see that.
Considering the various settlements
so far, I'd say that some parties
are getting the message.
I'd also say that since the 88 are
off-limits, the 88 had to sign off
on an agreement not to continue
to bad-mouth the students.
If they do, after the settlement,
I'd guess that they are in fact agreeing - in writing - to
self-terminate if they should
be so foolish as to continue to
libel the young men.
I'm guessing that each of the
three got 7.3 mil, and they potentially
stand to get a whole lot more from
Durham.
I'd guess Nifong needs to move
out of the country - soon.
I personally know Lane - the was the excellent Scoutmaster of the troop my two sons attended and have spent many a night with him at the campfire when everyone else had turned in talking about nothing in particular. I'm glad to see his example and leadership is reflected in his "work life" as well as his personal side.
ReplyDelete