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06-16-2007, 11:31 AM
State Bar Prosecutor Says Duke Lacrosse DA Was 'Minister of Injustice'
15, 2007. Nifong faces several ethics charges tied to his handling of the debunked Duke lacrosse rape case.
06-16-2007 10:25 AM
By AARON BEARD, Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (Associated Press) -- A panel of his peers heard closing statements Saturday at the ethics trial of Mike Nifong, who had already promised to leave his job as district attorney over his ill-fated pursuit of the debunked Duke University lacrosse team rape case.
"Mr. Nifong did not act as a minister of justice, but as a minister of injustice," state bar prosecutor Douglas Brocker said Saturday morning in his closing statement.
Brocker told a disciplinary hearing committee that as Nifong investigated allegations that a stripper was raped at a March 2006 party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team, he charged "forward toward condemnation and injustice," weaving a "web of deception that has continued up through this hearing."
The bar charged Nifong, a prosecutor in Durham County for his entire three-decade legal career, with breaking several rules of professional conduct, including lying to both the court and bar investigators and withholding critical DNA test results from the players' defense attorneys.
Nifong acknowledged Friday he was likely to be punished by the disciplinary committee for maybe getting "carried away a little bit" when talking publicly about the case. He said he regretted some of his statements, including a confident proclamation that he wouldn't allow Durham to become known for "a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl."
Brocker pounded on such comments Saturday, saying Nifong had to have known he was making improper comments to reporters.
"They (were) clearly going to cause public condemnation of anybody who was charged," Brocker said.
If convicted, the committee could suspend Nifong's law license or take it away entirely.
Nifong tearfully said Friday he would resign as district attorney, stunning his staff in Durham and his own attorneys. They had insisted for weeks their client had no plans to leave the office he was elected to for the first time in November.
"It has become increasingly apparent, during the course of this week, in some ways that it might not have been before, that my presence as the district attorney in Durham is not furthering the cause of justice," Nifong said, adding later: "My community has suffered enough."
Even if he is disbarred, Nifong's troubles aren't over _ the players' attorneys have pledged to seek criminal contempt charges next week in Durham.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
15, 2007. Nifong faces several ethics charges tied to his handling of the debunked Duke lacrosse rape case.
06-16-2007 10:25 AM
By AARON BEARD, Associated Press Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. (Associated Press) -- A panel of his peers heard closing statements Saturday at the ethics trial of Mike Nifong, who had already promised to leave his job as district attorney over his ill-fated pursuit of the debunked Duke University lacrosse team rape case.
"Mr. Nifong did not act as a minister of justice, but as a minister of injustice," state bar prosecutor Douglas Brocker said Saturday morning in his closing statement.
Brocker told a disciplinary hearing committee that as Nifong investigated allegations that a stripper was raped at a March 2006 party thrown by Duke's lacrosse team, he charged "forward toward condemnation and injustice," weaving a "web of deception that has continued up through this hearing."
The bar charged Nifong, a prosecutor in Durham County for his entire three-decade legal career, with breaking several rules of professional conduct, including lying to both the court and bar investigators and withholding critical DNA test results from the players' defense attorneys.
Nifong acknowledged Friday he was likely to be punished by the disciplinary committee for maybe getting "carried away a little bit" when talking publicly about the case. He said he regretted some of his statements, including a confident proclamation that he wouldn't allow Durham to become known for "a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl."
Brocker pounded on such comments Saturday, saying Nifong had to have known he was making improper comments to reporters.
"They (were) clearly going to cause public condemnation of anybody who was charged," Brocker said.
If convicted, the committee could suspend Nifong's law license or take it away entirely.
Nifong tearfully said Friday he would resign as district attorney, stunning his staff in Durham and his own attorneys. They had insisted for weeks their client had no plans to leave the office he was elected to for the first time in November.
"It has become increasingly apparent, during the course of this week, in some ways that it might not have been before, that my presence as the district attorney in Durham is not furthering the cause of justice," Nifong said, adding later: "My community has suffered enough."
Even if he is disbarred, Nifong's troubles aren't over _ the players' attorneys have pledged to seek criminal contempt charges next week in Durham.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.