By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
According to Fox News, the Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, who had been investigating the Duke lacrosse case, was disbarred on Saturday. A judge said that it was a ‘politically motivated act.’
The judge also said that ‘he allowed it to fester for months when it was clear the players were innocent.’
“This matter has been a fiasco. There’s no doubt about it,” F. Lane Williamson, the chairman of the three-member disciplinary committee said, that stripped the veteran prosecutor of his state law license.
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Nifong would not admit that there was no crime in the case that began in March 2006. Nifong and his attorneys supposed the decision, the TV station said.
The District Attorney was found in violation, as he ‘manipulated the investigation to boost his chances of winning his first election.’ The committee found that he ‘committed a clear case of intentional prosecutorial misconduct.’
Nifong was accused of misconduct that involved ‘dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and misrepresentation.’ He said that he would not let Durham be known for ‘a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl.’
Even at one point, Nifong accused the program of being a ‘bunch of hooligans.’
He became district attorney in 2005. He decided to take the case when a stripper came forward and claimed that she was rapped at a Duke lacrosse party.
“At the time he was facing a primary, and yes, he was politically naive,” Williamson said. “But we can draw no other conclusion that those initial statements he made were to further his political ambitions.”
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Through an ethics trial, Nifong had admitted that there was no DNA evidence in the case involving the players. Initially, Reade Seligmann and Collin Finnerty were charged with rape, kidnapping, and a sexual offense.
Eventually, Nifong also charged Dave Evans with the same charges. However, later on, it was determined by the state prosecutors that the men were innocent of the charges against them.
“We acknowledge the actual innocence of the defendants, and there’s nothing here that has done anything but support that assertion,” Williamson said.
Through what Williamson reviewed, it appeared that Nifong was ‘looking for evidence’ to tie the players to the accuser. However, no evidence was found to support the accuser.
“He’s already out there,” Williamson said. “He’s way out there by then. He looks foolish if he does not go forward.”
Nifong is accused of ethics violations that involve failure to turn over DNA test results from several men following the examination of her underwear and body. Neither test involved the Duke lacrosse players.
Then, in several hearings, he told two separate judges that there was no evidence to support the defense. Williamson said it was laughable that Nifong did not give the defense all the DNA tests until December.
“He knew. He admits he knew,” Williamson said during Nifong attorney Dudley Witt’s closing argument. “How could he not know if he had read it? How could he not know?”
Witt admitted that Nifong made several mistakes.
“It didn’t click,” Witt said as he tried to explain away one of Nifong’s errors. “His mind is just his mind. That’s the way it works. It just didn’t click.”
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