Friday, March 02, 2007

Nifong Admits and Denies April 10 Meeting in Letter to the State Bar

In today’s News and Observer, Anne Blythe reports details of a letter Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong sent to the State Bar on January 16 in response to a request to supplement his letter of December 28. The contents of this second letter reveal the difficulty Defendant Nifong is having in keeping his stories straight. In his January letter, Nifong, incredibly, demonstrates the troublesome effects of selective amnesia as he both admits and denies meeting with DNA Security lab director on April 10.

Perhaps anxious to avoid the implications of the natural questions this meeting raises about his subsequent meeting with the false accuser the following day or maybe terrified of the culpability inherent in hatching a plan at that meeting to withhold evidence of actual innocence and then drawing up, two days later, indictments for two of the men exonerated by the results of testing discussed at the meeting, Defendant Nifong initially denies recollection of the April 10 meeting with Dr. Meehan.

"I can only report that I have no recollection of that meeting and that I have no documentation or other evidence that I ever attended such a meeting," Nifong said in the Jan. 16 letter.

Later in the letter, Nifong’s selective amnesia goes into remission as he admits to “our April 10, 2006, meeting.”

“But in the Jan. 16 letter to the bar, Nifong wrote about a May 12 meeting in which Meehan provided a report to the prosecution.

"He also discussed with us the results of the tests he had performed since our April 10, 2006, meeting," Nifong said.”

As LS Forum member lskinner reminds us, the eloquent sage Steve Martin once taught of the benefits of the "I don't recall" defense and the terrible consequences caused by forgetting to say, “I forgot.”

“You.. can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You can be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes! You say.. "Steve.. how can I be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes?" First.. get a million dollars. Now.. you say, "Steve.. what do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, 'You.. have never paid taxes'?" Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language: "I forgot!" How many times do we let ourselves get into terrible situations because we don't say "I forgot"? Let's say you're on trial for armed robbery. You say to the judge, "I forgot armed robbery was illegal." Let's suppose he says back to you, "You have committed a foul crime. you have stolen hundreds and thousands of dollars from people at random, and you say, 'I forgot'?" Two simple words: Excuuuuuse me!!" Steve Martin

This revelation leaves us with one simple word for Defendant Nifong: Oops!

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, if Nifong can tell us with a straight face that three strong young men wearing nothing can beat and rape a woman for 30 minutes while she fights back -- and not leave a trace of physical evidence anywhere -- then he surely can be in two places at one time!

After all, did not Mikey tell us that Reade Seligmann could be at the bank teller while he was raping Crystal?? Or, that Crystal could tell mutually exclusive stories with BOTH of them being true??

Thus, we can believe Mikey when he tells us that we both was at the April 10 meeting AND was not there. Right, Mikey?

As the Great Joan Foster says: Mikey, go to your room!! And I can only hope that his "room" is a cell in the crowbar motel!

Anonymous said...

The great screenwriter William Goldman wrote a book about Hollywood entitled, Which Lie Did I Tell?

This could be the title of Nifong's autobiography.

GS said...

Nifong:
Major Political case during a tough primary.

He pays for additional specialized testing of DNA at a private lab.

Drives a hundred miles with several investigators to attend a meeting with Meehan on the DNA results.

Indicts Lax players 2 days later using the last grand jury before the primary.

And he quotes Hogan Heroe's Shultz: "I know nothing"

Anonymous said...

At what point does the judge who ran the Grand Jury ask why no one mentioned the DNA evidence?

Only in Durham.

GS said...

Oh, and the SPs must love Nifong's letter. He said he was not the lead investigator, and the police say he did take over the case. I could just see the keystone cops moment.

Who was leading the investigation? All the investigators will have a different answer. I doubt the SPs want to go to court with that one.

Anonymous said...

Judge Stephens needs to be investigated! He signed the orders & indictments.

What utter corruption in Durham!

Anonymous said...

I'm not trying to stir things here but something occurs to me. Everywhere I turn on the big blogs like DiW, JinC, LS, and FODU I hear everybody saying Nifong is going down. One of the things that crosses my mind is that main stream media has been very friendly to Nifong and his supporters. If that be the case, who is going to publish anything about him if he gets a slap on the wrist? More directly, who is going to tell the world that the state of NC blew it if they only give him a minor sanction of some sort? Certainly not the H-S or the N-O. And with the SI article that was so ....um.....supportive?!? of the Duke players, relying on the NAACP case monitor for their legal insight, who is going to tell the world. I don't see the flare up that the rest of you see. I pray to God that I am wrong. I pray that this gets cleaned up and not just swept under the rug. Only time will tell.

Anonymous said...

As a former member of the "mainstream media" you're not going to get much, that I can tell you. It's for the same reason that media vans have not been parked outside the house where a Duke co-ed claims she was raped a few weeks ago, the narrative is just not compelling enough.

Look at it this way, which is the more compeling story line

1) Rich, white, priveleged athletes gang-raping a struggling young black mother of two in a raucous bacchanalia, exposing all the horrors of the abuse of wealth and power or...

2) Rich, white, priveleged coed claiming rape after attending a party thrown by members of a black fraternity.

It's not about what happened, it's about what makes the most compelling storyline. Notice you haven't heard a word about the second claim and the attendant horrors surrounding sexual assault, and yet, the lax hoax continues to pop up in the oddest of places, used as snarky references for anything that smells of abuse of power.

Athletics plays a huge role here, that's why the world wide leader in sports took on the story, but the "meta-narrative" also fit in perfectly with those who claim racism, sexism, and elitism as the default position of wealthy white Americans.

Nifong will get hammered by the legal pundits, but not the Gang O'88, the potbangers, or anyone who attempts to point out the abject hypocrisy of "thank you for not waiting" as stated in the "listening statement."

The damage has been done. "Something happened in that house" is now the mindset. Who cares what happened in that other house, no good girl would have been at that party in the first place.

Rape stories are run of the mill news (in newsrooms), but throw in wealth, status, athletics and some potbangers, and well, you've got yourself a doozy of a tale.

Anonymous said...

To Humboldtblue

Does this mean that you believe the Nifong stuff will pass without much notice?

Anonymous said...

"Does this mean that you believe the Nifong stuff will pass without much notice?"

Nationally? Yes. Greta Van Susteren at FOX will follow it up, but from a purely technical/legal sense.

I would assume that Dan Abrams at MSNBC will have one of his folks stay with the story, but again, without the social narrative, it will be focused on the actions of an "out of control" DA.

You'll see no mea culpa from those who used the lax hoax to re-inforce the "meta-narrative" (I still don't know what that is or means) that rich white boys do as they please, particularly down on the "Plantation."

There will be no retrospective look at the effect this case has had on the young men involved or their families, or Duke in general, it will always be "something happened" as sad as that is to say. That's my inexpert opinion.

GS said...

The 1 yr anv of the alledged assualt is coming up. Expect all the major cable news, some major broadcast shows, and multiple print media to cover the 1 yr course of the case.

I expect the SPs to dismiss before that date, but if they don't by then, I believe the media will have a field day.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Humboldtblue and GS. This puts great perspective on it for me as far as the media is concerned

GAK

Anonymous said...

"I believe the media will have a field day."

Excellent observation on the anniversary GS, I overlooked that aspect, but I will maintain that any media attention will focus on a rogue DA, the "campus culture" and the fact that three young men still stand accused of heinous crimes, and that will lead to more "something happened in that house" drivel.

Anonymous said...

We can still hope that this will stay alive through the civil suits unless they are quietly settled.

kayman007

Anonymous said...

If Nifong is not disbarred and does not receive jail time, the NC judicical system just proved they are amockery of justice and prosecutors have card blanche!

What does fairness mean? Why not let the DUke Three decide Nifong's jail time! I hope theya re all is the courtroom for his sentencing!

Anonymous said...

the duke 3 are not deciding a damn thing! the only thing they will be discussing is their soaring legal fees.

Anonymous said...

Rhe media is hiding in shame. As they will be. when the truth of Anna Nicole comes out,