Prosecutor in Duke Case Is Stripped of Law License »
Posted By monte-g 1 year, 3 months ago in NewsA state ethics panel on Saturday disbarred Michael B. Nifong, the Durham district attorney who pursued a false accusation of sexual assault against three Duke University lacrosse players, shortly after Mr. Nifong said through his lawyer that he thought disbarment was appropriate.
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evelyna1 year, 3 months ago
Good, maybe now the system should be changed. Why should someone have to plead guilty to a lesser crime when they committed none. I have never understood why someone should settle for a police record just so the DA and the county can have a success record.
Now we have an equal opportunity justice system. Everyone is railroaded.
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PsychoHosebeast1 year, 3 months ago
Well, generally because, when someone pleads guilty to a lesser crime, they really DID do it, regardless of all the whining and denying they've been doing up to that point.
Either that, or they're terminally stupid.
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mark-stevens1 year, 3 months ago
He is not the first DA to do that kind of crap. I know three guys that were framed for arson. Information I provided to aid their case was buried.
There are four kids in Miami convicted of murder. The DA was offered witnesses with evidence to prove the kids innocence. They were not called to testify on their behalf.
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mark-stevens1 year, 3 months ago
In good faith I thought the system was for justice. I contacted The DA in the arson case thinking they would do the right thing!!
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knok1 year, 3 months ago
You aren't correct, the District Attorney (prosecutor's) job is to "seek justice". His only job based on the evidence gathered. The Prosecutor's first job is to determine if there actually was a crime, based on the available evidence, than to gather & process information for a Grand Jury. The Grand jury decides if charges are warranted & what the charges are."Beyond a reasonable doubt" is the legal standard for deciding a verdict in a criminal case by a jury or judge. The District Attorney Office has a duty of ethics and integrity to "seek justice".Seeking Justice requires the appropriate legal action based on the evidence wether it be releasing an innocent or sending a person to trial.Nifong betrayed public trust, his oath &the Duke students &their families.The public also deserves an inquiry into all the other cases he prosecuted.I'd bet this isn't the first time he did this.
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ryan6011 year, 3 months ago
This might enlighten you.
http://www.slate.com/id/2168680/nav/ais/
From the article: "Of the 2,012 cases since 1970 in which appeals judges actually threw out an indictment, conviction, or sentence because of prosecutorial malfeasance, in only 44 did prosecutors even appear before state ethics boards to answer for their actions. Another indicator: A Chicago Tribune investigation found 381 Illinois murder convictions that were reversed because prosecutors withheld evidence or prompted witnesses to lie. The number of those prosecutors publicly sanctioned or disbarred as a result? Zero."
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confirm1 year, 3 months ago
In this imperfect world with imperfect humans trying to effect it, the "system" represents the beliefs of most people. Exceptions abound but are not the general rule. By far the majority of those punished by justice richly deserve it.
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kellybkk1 year, 3 months ago
Where are the apologies from all the o-so-politically correct professoriate at Duke and elsewhere who took out full page ads denouncing the accused? How is it that the liberal left never ever seems to lose its credibility? Why does no one ever return to these people, thrust a microphone into their mugs, and ask "who, how does it feel to be proved a total idiot and fool, Mr. PhD?"
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ryan6011 year, 3 months ago
"Where are the apologies from all the o-so-politically correct professoriate at Duke and elsewhere who took out full page ads denouncing the accused?"
Umm. . . hate to break it to you, but there were a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who were very quick to denounce the lacrosse players. I would request apologies from all of them, if you wanted to be fair. The Duke administration certainly should publicly apologize, but then again so should Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, . . .
And most of all, lets not forget Nancy Grace. God, if ANYBODY deserves to be forced to grovel at the feet of these lacrosse players and beg their forgiveness, its good ol' Nancy.
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bill29361 year, 3 months ago
I was listenning to Glenn Beck at the time of the incident, and he was alway pushing for an investigation of incident, but no rush to judgement. He also referred to the acuser as a the stripper (that is what he called her, not 'exotic dancer'); he had people calling his show giving him grief over the fact he was not rushing to judgement, like the gang of 88.
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goda21 year, 3 months ago
Hail the Disciplinary Committee for coming out with this verdict!! This bugger was unstoppable earlier in convicting those humble and innocent students!!!
guys see if you can donate some for a grave cause
http://www.factusa.org/bdesh/teaser
for donations:
TIA
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UBCONFUSE1 year, 3 months ago
I want to see Duke University get their as sued off.
1) Fired the lacrosse Coach in a rush to judgment.
2) Minimum punishment for above, full salary, job back and triple damages.
3) President and Board members who voted for coaches dismissal should resign, but President should be fired.
4)All faculty members who signed a statement of condemnation should be fired or at the least have their pay suspended for no less than 6 months with a requirement to perform community service while wearing a banner proclaiming " I am biased against all white people".
5) All the students who can be identified on video should be terminated from Duke and not allowed to graduate.
6) If the above cannot be agreed to, protest should be organized to shut the school down.
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UBCONFUSE1 year, 3 months ago
You must have been one of the Professors who signed on to condemn the three before the trial, purely based on personal prejudice against athletes. After all the girl was a minority and there was no way she would lie about such a thing.
I thought my remedy was weak. My true desire would have involved a baseball bat put to use for purposes it was not intended for. Think Al Capone.
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knok1 year, 3 months ago
Why should (5) the students be "terminated". In the end, the findings revealed there was no rape. All the allagations were false, all the DNA collected was from the accuser's boyfriends whom she had sex with earlier in the night. I do agreed with your other points though.
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crespi1 year, 3 months ago
I bet they'll be surprised at the racist company job offers that pour in- "We have a place in for you in the tobacco industry, kid."
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schillinfl11 year, 3 months ago
Why wouldn't a false accusation of this magnitude not be criminal?
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OnlyTheTruth1 year, 3 months ago
Now it is time to sue Nifong for everything he has or will ever have. Strip him of EVERYTHING! Then jail the bastard. I hope he gets put in with others he has prosecuted and that they find him to be "pretty"
After that things can get dicey for the County. First, the players should sue them for this along with suing Nifong. Then there is the question of each and every case he has ever handled. How many others has he railroaded? They will have to open all those cases.
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joeblowe1 year, 3 months ago
It seems he is NOT immune to having his law license taken away, and losing his job. Also seems that since he WAS found guilty his own self of abuse of process and malicious prosecution, that should provide the necessary proof. Why, he has ADMITTED these things. The damage he has done clearly requires some form of compensation. I don't know what it would take (i.e. "how much") to make these kids whole, but I'd say it's a pretty big number.
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B1BLancer1 year, 3 months ago
From what I've heard, Nifong didn't have that much in the way of assets anyway.
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knok1 year, 3 months ago
Nifong cannot be sued in civil court. He has no personal liability for his actions in his public office. The District Attorney's office and Duke University can and should be sued. I'm not sure but, I think if criminal charges are filed agaianst Nifong, the families, than,may be able to sue. They should check it out.
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Sieben1 year, 3 months ago
Alfalfa Where have you been, either your very young ,or you have blinders on "ONLY IN AMERICA" whatever your short comings are blame it on Jessie and Al
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arleen601 year, 3 months ago
Where do you think he will try to pass the bar next ?
I know he has a hard road ahead but he had no mercy for what these families were going through.
All he could see was black votes and free publicity
I hope he feels every minute of pain that he caused each of these boys and their families. He tried to ruin three promissing futures. He should pay and pay and pay.
Being disbared could not have happened to a more deserving guy.
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whatever20001 year, 3 months ago
Hopefully the book rights will yeild enough cash to pay for all there legal expenses, tuition paid, hourly compensation for jail time served and loss of income amortized over their lifetimes as a result of all this. Our legal system is excellent but nothing is perfect. I offer a word to the wise. If you suddenly look around and find yourself in a less than desirable position (i.e. prostitutes/ strippers on drugs in the presence of a bunch of drunk frat boys), excuse yourself. I equate this with finding yourself in the middle of the interstate on the dotted white line. Feel free to get off the road. There are times when you say this is not a place I want to be. I am vulnerable to danger or being caught up with the wrong people. In this case, it was false prosecution. Feel free to excercize your right to excuse yourself from them. I am not saying that these kids deserved this for being there.Someone with a little more wisdom may have recognized the situation for what it was and left.
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jzinkjazz1 year, 3 months ago
If the DEMS win in 2008 look for HONEST MIKE NIFONG to be nominated for ATTY. GENERAL__ A pay back for taking one for the PARTY----------
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bullymamaina1 year, 3 months ago
...Duh!!!...and the reason that lawyers have such bad reputations is what???? Personally, I think he got off easy....for now!! I hope they throw the book at him and he gets all that he deserves. He could have ruined the lives of those boys forever.
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OldHickory1 year, 3 months ago
If I were the Duke students I would seriously consider a defamation of character suit against the 'reverends' Al and Jesse. Their actions are what were really intolerable and may have destroyed the futures of the students. And you can bet that if the students were black they would be suing everybody in creation. Nifong is a moron and he got what he tried to give.
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Shirtless1 year, 3 months ago
The prosecutor does have a legal and ethical obligation to disclose exculpatory evidence to the defendant. If you have exculpatory evidence in a particular case, though, contact the defendant's lawyer. Proving what the prosecutor knew, and when he knew it, gets too complicated.
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resoh151 year, 3 months ago
Has anyone seen a statement by "The Rev's" on this story? I have seen a thing. Ican't believe the liberal press isn't knocking their doors down for a statement!!!
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badmonky1 year, 3 months ago
I'v been in a similar situation,,,and quite frankly it has ruined my life as I knew it,,,it has financial destroyed me,,caused major problems with my family and ex friends,,without having your name cleared in the same spotlight that put u there, there is little hope for social acceptance.I only have one very important thing to say about all this and its about a common denominator in these situations. The lie.The person in this case and others is put in the back ground and nothing is ever said.It's a double reverse standard to the woman making acusations and she walks away scott free. The focus should revert back to this woman and hold her acountable,,,is she up on charges??? I have not seen one thing about it. And money did play an important role in the outcome of these young mens lifes,,if they did not have the resorces they would have had to fold under the system.
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BLKEDU1 year, 3 months ago
DA's have done many wrongs and I've never heard of a case of a DA getting his law license revoked. This happened b/c they are white AND rich. There are cases when DA's throw minority's in jail for years and even though its clear the DA has done wrong no punishment is handed down. Everything before the point of the DA getting his license revoked is nothing new to me.
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BLKEDU1 year, 3 months ago
Jesse and Al were kind of stupid for jumping the gun and believing the DA - who they are always fighting against. The DA is completely to blaim the stripper was known to have mental probs.
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