Nifong Asks Attorney General to Take Over
One day after details of the latest re-re-re-invention of the Hoax was made public, Defendant Nifong has sent a letter to Attorney General Roy Cooper asking to be recused from the case. Coincidentally, Defendant Nifong’s decision also comes one day after meeting with the accuser.
Update: ABC News
"District Attorney Mike Nifong has requested that he have himself removed from prosecuting the Duke Lacrosse rape investigation, ABC News has learned."A source close to the investigation said Nifong sent a letter to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper asking his office to assume responsibility of the case."
Update: N&O
"The immediate future for Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong does not seem bright. Misstatements and mounting criticism on his handling of the Duke lacrosse rape case may cost him his career."Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong met in his office Thursday with the accuser in the Duke lacrosse case.
"Defense lawyers had served a subpoena on the woman addressed at Nifong's office. She was in the office Thursday and personally received the document, the subpoena said.
"Meanwhile, ABC News and CNN were reporting late this afternoon that Nifong had asked to be taken off the controversial case. ABC, citing an unidentified source close to the investigation, said Nifong had asked the state attorney general's office to take over the case.
"And Nifong also has hired a Winston-Salem lawyer who was critical of his early handling of the case during a national TV interview in April."In December, the Bar charged Nifong with violating ethics rules during numerous media interviews he gave shortly after an escort service dancer alleged that she was sexually assaulted at a lacrosse team party.
"It is unprecedented for the Bar to charge a prosecutor during an ongoing criminal case. Penalties range from disbarrment to losing his license for up to five years.
"A preliminary hearing on those charges is set for Jan. 24 at the Bar offices in Raleigh."
"Under North Carolina law, as we all have learned, only the DA himself can recuse himself from a case. Significantly, the Nifong request removes his entire office from the case--including Linwood Wilson, or any of the ADA's who could be subjected to pressure from Nifong to try the case regardless of evidence."
Additional updates, analysis, and discussion of this breaking news can be found here: LS Forum
64 comments:
No that Nifong is no longer on the case, The bar is free to file more charges.
About Time!
*raises fist* To quote one of my favorite movies...
"DIE YOU RAT BASTARD"
I am a Blogger Hooligan...
HEAR ME ROAR
Kethra
Another proud blog hooligan
j58..... what happened to your boy Nifong? How is he going to win the case and send those boys to prison now?
The bad part is now a new DA will need time to review the case and interview witnesses. Feb 5 hearing may get delayed at least a month.
POULTRY
POULTRY
justice58
i have waited long and hard for this day to come...what is your excuse now? that mikey liefong was "pressured" out of the case? you think a man who truly believed a woman was raped and abused and was clearly able to prove it would withstand 10 months of scrutiny to give up a month before the biggest part of the hearings? dont think so scooter.
go be racist somewhere else. go support black peopl ejust because they are black. you are so done on these blogs.
I too, am wondering if we will hear from justice58 and theman again.... I hope so, I am looking forward to reading a little trashy fiction.
Actually the should be happy. Now a new DA can get to the truth of the case without having to defend all his/her bad actions in the case.
But guess what? There is no case.
God is on the side of justice. Thanks for the defense attorneys - in particular Brad Bannon. I also believe Meekham thought he would bluff his way through his cross. Remember when Dr M denied knowing what transferance was and Bannon lead his through it.
Thank God the boys in Missouri are home safe tonight.
7:16 What a wonderful story about those boys in Missouri! I cannot imagine how happy their families must be tonight. It is nice to have good news.
You white racists railroaded Nifong. He was just trying to do justice for a rape victim, but you white bastards wouldn't let him. You want all black women raped by whites. You know you are lying.
to "theman"
your "poultrifried" friend quit on you.
to "theman"
your "poultrifried" friend quit on you.
Na na na na....
Na na na na....
Hey hey hey....
Goodbye!!!
(You suck!!!!)
This case is as dead as Kentucky Fried Chicken.
-Esquire-
-Maryland
theman, no one created the conflict of interest except Nifong. HE conspired to withhold DNA evidence. HE made the statements to the press. The defense team has held only one-tenth the number of press conferences that Nifong did, if that many. And here you go, if this gets dismissed, you can blame it on Nifong, another white guy. Enjoy that. Another conspiracy of white people trying to put down a black woman. Only this was a conspiracy of sheer stupidity.
And I agree, this will drag it past the February hearing, but my guess is that an impartial observer will look through the file, interview a few people, and drop the whole thing.
theman...... hahahahahhahohohohohheheheheheheh....... too bad, next time why don't you find a more credible "victim" for you to espouse all your racist rants over.
HA
Mike is off the case but still...the sexual aaaault & kidnapping charges are intact. He DIDN'T drop the charges. Mike had the perfect chance to drop all charges but NOOOOOOOOO. He's NOT worried about another prosecutor taking a look at the files.
Actually this may be good for the victim to have a fresh pair of eyes to take a look.
I wouldn't be dancing yet with those kind of charges still hanging over the duke's head.
Hmmmmmm I'm wondering what kind of names are you going to call the NEW prosecutor once he takes the case to trial.
justice, Nifong was the only reason those charges remain. You have to dig up yahoos like Wendy Murphy and Nancy Grace (and yourself of course) to hear from someone who doesn't think this case is dead in the water. It may be true that the accuser wants to press forward, but any objective pair of eyes would agree that there is no case here, certainly not one possible to win anyway.
By the by, why aren't you decrying Nifong for abandoning a disenfranchised black woman in her hour of need?
Does anyone have a link to the accuser's original statement? There are about a billion links talking about it on the web and no way to narrow the search to find the actual statement.
No names.
They will fairly review the case. If the case had merit it will continue.
The reality is that CGM stories and all the evidence means this case is but over except for the lawsuits.
How will you deal with the truth?
Nifong may be "doing a Bush" here. In a fight you can't win? Hand it off to the next guy so you can blame him for losing.
justice58 when they finally drop this case, and they will, what poor pathetic excuse will you be coming up with then? Not too many days ago you were crowing about how Susan Filan was on your "side" the next day she clearly proclaimed that CMG was a liar and this was a hoax ( I believe she even used that word )... But you kept proclaiming the strength of the case, because you had your superstar DA, alas.... he is gone now too..... it must be getting lonely there on fantasy island!
theman.... that has to be one of the funniest posts yet!
to theman---
Seeing everything in life through the lens of skin color is disingenuous. You hurt no one but yourself. The life you limit is your own. You ARE your own worst enemy.
mike... don't take theman seriously , he is a joke.
Duke U tampered with the DNA samples... They removed DNA of the accused and added DNA of 5 other mystery men and added DNA of her boyfriend. ok. that makes sense. right.
Great, now these kids have to suffer through more delays while the AG of NC tries to find someone crazy enough to take this case. Nifong shouldn't be allowed off the case till the 6th of next month.
Justice 58 = I.Q. 58
What happens "TheMan" and 'JusticeZero' if Nifong railroads a black man or woman to try to prove this case wasn't just a political stunt to win an election?
Even the accuser's cousin was saying on Fox this evening that the family thought Nifong was just using her for his own benefit. If the accuser's family sees it, why don't you knotheads?
Now theman and I.Q. 58 will have proper excuses for why they are going to spend their weekend blowing spoo on chickens. "I doin' sign tiffic spearmints."
Trust me, this is a dead case. Remember, Jackass58 was insisting that Mikey had secret witnesses that were going to pop out of the cake on December 15, but all that popped out was Meehan's testimony.
Other than Crystal's mutually-exclusive accounts (I realize that Jackass58 doesn't know what "mutually-exclusive" means), there is no "evidence" for this case. None.
Let me repeat that. None.
Now, Jackass58 would love to say that Crystal's insistence trumps hard physical evidence, but being a guy with a math, logic, and statistics background, I have to say simply, no can do. If a penis enters an orifice, it leaves a trace, condom or no condom. If a person at an ID session gives police a graphic account of what each person she fingers allegedly did, and then eight months later gives a totally different account that mysteriously fills in a few of the holes left by the defense (and digs some other holes), then my b.s. detectors are on full bore.
Most likely, we will not see a case this bazarre in our lifetimes. But, I cannot say that I will miss Jackass58 or theman.... or the Fong (which I prefer to be well-done).
Bill Anderson
I want you to stop referring to me as Jackass58. I am offended by it and I want it to stop right now. If I was to insult you, Liestoppers would delete my post. I post as justice58 and would like to be referred to as such.
I am tired of the insults and I have a few choice words for you but I will restrain myself.
You stand by your beliefs and I stand by mine. You don't have to call me names because your belief is DIFFERENT from mine.
theman's 8:52 post is really saying..I give up...you all were right about Nifong and the accuser...game over...
Jackass, you have called me a racist, which means you are saying I hate my own children. Second, on this blog, blacks have called me a "MF racist" because I don't believe "the word of a black woman."
All I ever got from you were insults and accusations. If you don't like having it handed back to you, I would suggest not writing on this blog.
You have tried to perpetuate a lie, something you would not tolerate if the races were reversed. You have basically said that science matters when black are accused, but that we abandon science in this case.
That, dear, is Jackassery.
Now, I tried to be nice to you and Yolanda at one time, even inviting you to my home to meet my family, but instead you and your friends insisted on calling me a "MF racist."
I will tell you something. I don't like lies, whether they are told by blacks, whites, or whatever. I don't like to see wrongfully convicted blacks or wrongfully convicted whites. I have spoken out in print for people of all races, and no matter what their politics might be, and I have a written record as such.
But because I have said that the science of this case does not match Crystal's story, you have openly called me a racist, which means you claim I hate my children. (Oh, yes, I also had my family threatened by blacks in Durham.)
So, since you and your friends chose to attack me, I will call you what I want to call you. If you don't like it, stop calling me a racist and an MF, and we will do just fine. I actually am thought of by my neighbors (black and white, since this is a lower-middle-class and racially-mixed neighborhood) as fair-minded.
But, you have chosen to call me a racist and MF.
Justice:
Don't you get it? People from Western Maryland don't just hold grudges, they fertilize them and tend to them with loving care.
Don't expect that to change anytime soon. You have really made Professor Anderson angry, but if you labelled him a racist, he has every right to be angry with you.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
Bill Anderson
Great writing!
If you want to continue with the insults lets have at it.
After being reprimanded by Liestoppers I have restrained myself. When was the last time you saw me write that you're a racist or MF. Only you know what's truely in your heart!
If you want to continue insulting me then...bring it.
What's the best thing ever to come out of Durham? Well it's sure not Victoria Peterson. It's clearly NOT community leadership as evidenced by that hokey election. Nor is it justice. Fact is, the best thing ever to come out of Durham is I-85. And Mike Nifong had better get on it.
Bye Mike, be sure to fill your tank with gas...
OK J58, I will be a bit nicer. But keep in mind that what you have told us is that you want science to be used when it is to the advantage of black defendants, but ignored when it does not work to the advantage of black accusers.
That doggie will not hunt. My training is in math and statistics, and while I do not worship at the shrine of science, I think that DNA evidence is one of the best things going, period, and we cannot fail to use it when it is available.
Look, if I believed the three were guilty, then I would not be writing what I do. The consistent descriptions that have come from Crystal and the prosecutors are from attacks that would have left DNA all over the place, no question. (That is, unless the three were wearing space suits.)
The accounts just do not match with what we know about forensic science, and given the conduct of Nifong and the accuser, I am even more suspicious.
What's more, I have friends who have been wrongfully convicted, and I know what wrongful convictions do to people. And when I see people like Wendy Murphy involved in this case, and she has involved in wrongful convictions in Massachusetts (and encouraged them elsewhere), I become suspicious.
I would urge you to look at the Scottsboro Boys case and the Darryl Hunt case. The former reads like the Duke case in reverse. The latter is one in which the lack of DNA on the body of the victim led to his exoneration.
Your position on this has been one that the whites in Scottsboro took in 1931 -- and the prosecution took in the Hunt case. We know now that both cases were legal travesties, and both involved black men.
So, you need to ask yourself whether or not you support Nifong and Crystal purely out of racial reasons, or because science does not matter. It does matter, and you need to understand that if Nifong had been able to do away with science in this case, prosecutors could do the same to wrongfully accused people -- black and white -- elsewhere.
Mike Nifong is off the case but he is Durham's DA and I don't think he is going anywhere.
I am counting the days when the duke supporters will start attacking the NEW prosecutor. It's only a matter of time.
The NEW prosecutor have to abide by the law. Some duke supporters have been posting the NEW prosecutor will come in and "FAKE" look over the evidence and then drop the case. Justice can't be bought with money.
The victim has a right to be taken serious. You can bet the NAACP and every other civil rights group will be watching and ALL eyes will be on this NEW prosecutor.
Justice: No wonder Bill can't stand you.
Any reasonably competent and ethical prosecutor would gag on his coffe after reading differing versions of the story, lack of physical evidence and contradictions, and after spitting it out and clearing his throat, nol pros the charges.
Because, you see, decent prosecutors do not bend to the threats of NAACP oversight, nor do they operate in a world where race make all the difference. They look and facts and evidence, and when they don't match up, they move on to something else. Justice is actually supposed to be color-blind,and only a fool would think that allowing race to enter into the cold determination of justice is a good thing.
That's law. Justice should never be bought by special interest groups and intimidation.
Facts and evidence are lacking in this case, and this case will be dismissed. I don't see anyone jumping for joy that they may get assigned this mess. An accuser's story is given the weight it deserves. In this case, that weight is less than zero at this point, and the "law" dictates dismissal due to the unreliable nature of the numerous stories and bizarre identification process in the line-up used to gain them (pick three, any three).
Look it up if you like.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
I don't give a care who can't stand me. I speak my ** mind. I don't kiss anyone's ass.
I am saying the victim will not be dismissed because wealthy people said so. The NAACP was formed because of much injustice done to blacks. If blacks would have been treated fair, there would be no need for the NAACP. Take it anywhich way you want to.
The NAACP and every civil rights leader is there to help the defenseless when no one else will do the right thing. They stand for justice and equality. I can't help it if you don't like it. That's just too **** bad.
Justice 58
It has been a long time since the NAACP has stood for justice and equality. In this case particularly, they have allied themselves with a tyrant and injustice. Unfortunately, you seem too racist to be able to recognize that.
Bill--- why, why, why do you even bother with J58? I can only speak for myself, but I do not give his/her posts any credence whatsoever. The are not for real.
And J58.... watch your language,I guess there is truth to the saying "profanity is the weapon of the witless"!
I can't help thinking of Nixon. He had his dirty tricks guys break in to get information to help him win the election. He didn't get the info, but won the election anyway.
Then the things he had done to win cost him his presidency, and his reputation.
Nifong might end up following the same trajectory: do something unethical and/or illegal to win an election, then get destroyed by it after you win.
Of course, this being N.C., he will probably not even get a slap on the wrist for trying to railroad three innocent men.
I do find it interesting that J58 refuses to deal with the issues I put forth. The NAACP demands that DNA be considered ONLY if it supports the "black" position. If DNA is exculpatory when a black is charged, then it should be the deciding issue.
However, because DNA is exculpatory to WHITES in this case, suddenly we hear J58 and the NAACP tell us that DNA no longer matters. Until she is willing to engage this particular issue, I see no point in aceding to her request. She has called me a racist BECAUSE I hold that DNA should matter in this case, but if the races were reversed, she would call me a racist if I took the position she now holds.
This tells me what I need to know about her and about her friends.
Justice, you are right, shockingly. The case won't be dropped because the accuseds' parents have money. It will be dropped because there is no case here: no DNA, conflicting accounts from the accuser, no physical injuries consistent with her story, accounts that conflict with the second dancer, everyone who was at the party, the next-door neighbor, and the laws of physics.
The accuser WAS taken seriously, for a long time, by a lot of people, like Susan Filan and Susan Estrich. Filan and Estrich gave this woman every benefit of the doubt but eventually they had to admit that the accuser is lying, or at least whatever happened at the party (if you're in the "something happened" camp) does not yet match up with one of her dozen different accounts. The only thing they take more seriously than a woman who has been raped is a woman who has lied about being raped and a renegade prosecutor who uses a case for political gain.
Lets hear it for THE MAN!
He will be sadly missed. It is very hard to get truly stupid people to post on the side of an issue that has 0.00001% credability.
Justice 58 is a real close second and still a true believer in Nifong.
He/She must have went to Wendy murphy schools K---12 and then Law School taught by the real assoc. prof herself.
My nomination for true clown of the hoax would have to be Wendy murphy.
Lunatic activists like Wendy Murphy have succeeded in distorting the normal presumptions of law in alleged cases of rape and child abuse.
It is time to return to the normal presumption of innocence in all of these cases. It is time that the cases be proven, if they are proven, according to established principles of law.
By abandoning those legal principles we turned our backs on centuries of legal experience. The unfortunate result has been miscarriages of justice like this case, the Little Rascals child abuse case, and many others of the like.
Enough. It is time to restore the law. It is time boot the Nifongs, and the Wendy Murphys to the street.
Quick question : is Durham like many other areas, where interviews with accusers and defendants are recorded ? My guess is no, since the only things entered into evidence were 'investigator notes'.
I'm thinking that recording of interviews and interrogations should be the rule. This would make it much harder to coach witnesses or to redact/replace versions.
J58: You still don't get it? How sad. Let me enlighten you. Serious light on.
The accuser's credibility is gone. That's what happens when you tell numerous, contradictory stories about an alleged event. That's also what happens when no DNA evidence or any other iota of phisical, corroborative evidence exists to support her version of events.
Naturally, and you must agree, if she has changed her stories repeatedly, then she has committed a crime of making a material misrepresentation to the police. Equal protection, therefore, demands that she be prosecuted to the full extent of the law for her actions.
You also appear confused on whose rights are at stake. Shocking as this may be, accusers have no right to a Trial, Defendants are the people vested with rights in this situation, and that right demands that the State produce reliable evidence upon which to proceed that can be introduced at Trial. If evidence violates policies, practices and procedures, such as a line-up where the accuser gets to pick three people (any three will do), that evidence is excluded at Trial, and the identification is also excluded as fruit of the poisinous tree.
Further, the propriety of cross-racial identification, and its inherent risks and flaws, together with filler photos, was created as a result of NAACP pressure regarding line-ups that lead to flawed identification, and the subsequent conviction of innocent people without physical evidence for crimes of violence such as rape. Studies in this area reveal that people incorrectly identify members of the an opposite race a majority of the time. While this was advocated by the NAACP to help Blacks wrongfully accused, the effect has been a requirement that a criminal prosecution have more than a cross-racial identification to proceed to trial due to the inherent unreliability of cross-racial identification.
The fact that you give credence to a cross-racial identification, sans physical evidence, as the sole determination for prosecution in this case is, therefore, galling, as this violates the NAACP's position in cross-racial identification being the sole basis for prosecution. Perhaps you should study up on the NAACP's actual positions before raising that particular group in the future.
It is for these reasons that this case begs for expeditious dismissal so that the rights of the Defendants to have a fair trial, based upon sound evidence, are preserved.
Equal protection, you see, getting applied, well, equally.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
Now that Nifong has hired a lawyer to represent him in the misconduct charges filed by the Bar, this reminds me of words spoken by an infamous person in Durham.
1. One has to wonder why he (Mr. Nifong) would need a lawyer if he is innocent of the charges.
2. In Durham, your considered guilty until proven innocent.
3. I am absolutely convinced that something (misconduct) occurred, yes sir.
How refreshing. It appears a real lawyer for the prosecution has entered in the form of Mr. Cooper.
-Esquire-
-Maryland-
Hw have her on video tape describing who forced her to give oral sex during the rigged lineup. Now In Dec she saids no he did nothing but watch.
No sane person makes that kind of mistake. Even Justice58 knows that a women does not make that kind of error. In Dec the accuser pretty much bought herself jail time.
The Man at 7:45:
You aren't any kin to these folks, are you?
http://knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_5277265,00.html
The victim has a right to be taken seriously?
The victim has a right to be taken...seriously????
No she doesn't. She once did, but giving 9 different stories to nine different people and a couple mor to the same person, stories that are internally inconsistent and conflict with her own telephone records and the records of others who have no dog in this fight....all of these things mean she has long since FORFEITED her right to be taken seriously.
You have marginal enough credibility when you work as a sex worker, particularly one who walks around with the DNA of five unknown guys in her on a random sample. Particularly one who has been so irresponsible as to produce three kids out-of-wedlock. Just by her lifestyle she went into this with half the potential jurors already believing that even if an actual rape occurred, the woman had essentially demeaned the act by her own conduct to little more than a contract dispute about working conditions.
No, I'm afraid it has long passed the point where we can give this young lady any benefit of the doubt. She and Nifong ought to join Meehan and be prosecuted for conspiracy to deprive these three young men of their civil rights.
Her best hope is an insanity defense. Nifong's best hope is he doesn't get a cellmate he helped send up....
"I believe he used my cousin for political gain"--Cousin Jakki about Mike Nifong on On The Record.
Hey Justice58, how do you like 'dem apples?
The accuser's own family thinks Nifong fucked up and is a bad prosecutor and a liar and used a black woman to pander to the AA community for votes. Do you disagree with the accuser's own cousin, who you supported for so long? You supported Mike Nifong for months and months despite all his injustices--now, another black woman who SUPPORTS THE ACCUSER 110% and is her family member says Nifong USED HER COUSIN for political gain. You supported a man who pandered and used the african american's for his own benefits. How do you feel supporting a man who used black people?
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