Be careful what you ask for

For months now, interim-District Attorney Mike Nifong has implored voters to look beyond his indiscretions in the Hijacking of the Hoax. Repeatedly he, and his supporters, have suggested that he should not be judged solely on his failures and misconduct in one case. On the eve of the election, it seems that his wish has been granted.

Just when we thought the absurdity of this drama could not get any more bizarre, it appears that loyal ADA Ashley Cannon has broken ranks by leaving the District Attorney’s office on the eve of the election amid a brewing sexual harassment scandal. Time and again, Ms. Cannon had proven herself a loyal subordinate to DA Nifong, and it appears that her reward was to be subjected to an alleged pattern of sexual harassment within the DA’s office.

In the spring, Ms. Cannon provided campaign ammunition for Nifong in his hard fought primary election battle against bitter rival Freda Black, by alleging that Defense Attorney Jerry Clayton assured her that if Black won, her job would be safe. Ms. Cannon also demonstrated her loyalty to Nifong by arguing for the reinstatement and prosecution of alcohol and noise violations charges against lacrosse team captains David Evans and Dan Flannery. Her greatest attempted contribution to the Hoax, however, was her aggressive, though failed, prosecution of defense witness Moezeldin Elmostafa.

Despite Ms. Cannon’s willingness to go to bat for Nifong in each of these instances, it appears that Nifong was unwilling to return the favor when Ms. Cannon came to him with a sexual harassment complaint against ADA C. Destine Couch. While the Snooze Room again lives up to its name by ignoring the brewing scandal, the News & Observer and blogger KC Johnson are reporting that Ms. Cannon has left the DA’s office in response to the alleged pattern of sexual harassment, and Nifong’s apparent refusal to attend to the issue.

“A former Durham prosecutor said Sunday she filed a complaint with the state court system, alleging that she was sexually harassed by a co-worker and that her complaints were ignored by District Attorney Mike Nifong."

“Ashley Cannon, who was a District Court prosecutor, said she made the complaint verbally to the Administrative Office of the Courts in Raleigh on Friday. She made the complaint on her last day with Nifong's office after resigning to accept a new job as a prosecutor in Orange and Chatham counties."

“Cannon said in an interview Sunday that she reported the sexual harassment allegation to Nifong. "Nothing was done about it," she said.

“Nifong declined to discuss Cannon's allegation on Sunday, saying it was a personnel matter.”

N&O

“On Friday, her last day working for Nifong, Cannon spoke with the Administrative Office of the Courts, and filed an oral complaint alleging sexual harassment by Assistant District Attorney C. Destine Couch and a complaint against District Attorney Nifong for taking no action on the matter."

"Couch received some attention earlier in the case, after people noticed his racy myspace.com website (which was then taken down). According to Cannon, Couch engaged in a pattern of inappropriate behavior that prompted her to file an internal complaint with David Saacks, the chief assistant district attorney. Saacks, she said, then brought the complaint to Nifong."

"I spoke this morning with Saacks. He said that he could confirm that he was "involved" with the complaint in the office, but otherwise, as a personnel matter, only Nifong could comment on the issue. Cannon said that, around four weeks ago, after Nifong showed no signs of acting, she made an appointment to speak to the district attorney."

"She reported that Nifong told her that they would talk about the matter later; and in the meantime, he would put her on a schedule that didn’t overlap with Couch. When Nifong did neither and she felt that the situation wasn’t going to improve, she decided to leave and file her complaint—against Couch for inappropriate behavior and against Nifong for inaction.”

KC Johnson

Without passing judgment on the merits or timing of Ms. Cannon’s complaint, it should be noted that her allegations represent a fittingly ironic conclusion to the election campaign. While DA Nifong pretends that his responsibility to continue his hijacked Hoax stems from the social issues the Hoax represents, it appears that within his own office he fails to address an equally troubling social concern. Adding to the irony, in Ms. Cannon, we have a formerly loyal subordinate, and a genuine champion of women’s issues who serves on the Orange County Commission for Women, and the board of the Family Violence Prevention Center of Orange County, and yet her complaints are ignored by the man who pretends to be a social crusader.

Coming on the eve of an election with so many voters remaining undecided, Ms. Cannon’s allegations certainly give one more reason for Durham County voters to remove District Attorney Mike Nifong from office. How perfectly fitting it would be if the final nail in his campaign coffin turned out to be a non-Hoax related issue, born of his own neglect and emanating from within his own office.