The Hoax Nears Death

It’s difficult to know for sure when the Hoax will die. Those who insist the Hoax must go to trial no longer speak of evidence yet to be revealed. Instead, they speak of bad behavior, social inequity, underage consumption of alcohol, interlopers, and race riots. The police department has given up the illusion that the case requires an investigation. New witnesses emerge, and old ones clarify their recollections on national television, and not in interviews with investigators.

Even interim District Attorney Nifong admits that his pursuit is not about prosecuting a crime, but rather about “healing” social divisions, and addressing the controversy surrounding the case. Perhaps knowing that he cannot justify his false prosecution on the basis that a crime actually occurred, it appears that he publicly pretends to justify his irregular actions and lapse in ethics by pointing to a “higher” calling. Disregarding the fact that the division and controversy were created by his own ill-conceived words and actions, interim-DA Nifong attempts to spin his misdeeds into something noble.

Among his supporters, fewer each day can ignore Nifong’s failure after failure with the case. The prevailing attitude seems to be that the one known instance of railroading innocent young men is acceptable in consideration of the fact that he performed adequately in traffic court, and other roles as an Assistant District Attorney. For the few hate filled extremists, Mr. Nifong’s attempt to send innocents to jail is not rationalized as an isolated instance, but rather applauded as strike against Yankees, or as a punishment of a race different from their own.

Mr. Nifong appears to have stopped pretending he has actual evidence to take the Hoax to trial. To the Rotary and Kiwanis Club, Mr. Nifong asserted that the case must be tried because of the controversy.

"If a case is of such significance that people in the community are divided or up in arms over the existence of that case, then that in and of itself is an indication that a case needs to be tried." N&O

Through the Associated Press, Mr. Nifong told the world that his persecution of three innocent young men was justified not by law, but by a personal feeling that the prosecution was needed to address the underlying divisions in the community.

“I think that I have a responsibility to prosecute this case. I think that really nothing about my view of the case and my view of how the case ultimately needs to be handled has been affected by any of the things that have occurred. You can make the case go away pretty easily. Anybody could. The next D.A., or me if I were so inclined. You can do it with the stroke of a pen. But that does nothing to address the underlying divisions that have been revealed. My personal feeling is the first step to addressing those divisions is addressing this case.”

DA Nifong’s misconduct is only made more obscene by his desperate attempts to misconstrue the mandate of his office, and his nefarious intentions. Despite the pretense of this manufactured higher “calling” to persecute innocent men for the “good” of the community, Mr. Nifong’s obligations are quite the opposite. His responsibility is to protect the innocent, and to prosecute real crimes supported by probable cause. Yet DA Nifong pretends, again, that it is acceptable for him to persecute innocent men in the interests of serving his community.

As even DA Nifong appears to have given up pretence that he actually has evidence to take this case to trial, it seems that the death of the Hoax is near. Let’s hope that the funeral is scheduled for Tuesday November 7, despite Mr. Nifong’s attempts at resurrection.