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View Full Version : North Carolina Bar Files Charges Against Duke D.A.

RegBarc
12-28-2006, 08:39 PM
From the Associated Press (http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2006/12/28/498544-nc-bar-files-charges-against-duke-da):

Nine months after the Duke lacrosse scandal broke, the prosecutor is now the accused.

The North Carolina bar filed ethics charges Thursday against District Attorney Mike Nifong, accusing him of saying misleading and inflammatory things to the media about the athletes under suspicion when the case first unfolded last spring.

The punishment for ethics violations can range from admonishment to disbarment. The complaint could also force Nifong off the case by creating a conflict of interest.

"He's got this hanging over his head," said Thomas Metzloff, a Duke law professor and member of the bar's ethics committee for the past 10 years. "It relates so much to his underlying conduct in the case."

Among the four rules of professional conduct that Nifong was accused of violating was a prohibition against making comments "that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused."There is a God, and his name is collectively the North Carolina Bar.
Pablo
12-28-2006, 08:51 PM
From the Associated Press (http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2006/12/28/498544-nc-bar-files-charges-against-duke-da):

There is a God, and his name is collectively the North Carolina Bar.
I always believed you could find God in a bar.
Mikkel_Knight
12-28-2006, 09:30 PM
About friggin time. The way that he has gone about this case in particular is appalling. Hopefully, he'll be censured - potentially even disbarred...

A complete and total disgrace.
eddyj
12-28-2006, 09:39 PM
About friggin time. The way that he has gone about this case in particular is appalling. Hopefully, he'll be censured - potentially even disbarred...

A complete and total disgrace.
What he said. I am still appalled that it took so long before some action was taken against this guy.
JYoung
12-28-2006, 11:17 PM
Good.
This whole affair has been a disgusting sham from the beginning.
betamax
12-29-2006, 12:10 PM
Its about fuckin time.
Philosofy
12-29-2006, 12:19 PM
Do the athletes have any legal recourse here?
Pablo
12-29-2006, 12:22 PM
Its about fuckin time.
Yeah, the problem is that the DA doesn't know who did the fucking or what time it was done.
Chapper
12-29-2006, 01:05 PM
Do the athletes have any legal recourse here?

Probably not, as prosecutors are typically immune to any sort of civil prosecution. They could potentially sue the accuser, but I doubt they could really get anything from her...
Pablo
12-29-2006, 01:25 PM
Probably not, as prosecutors are typically immune to any sort of civil prosecution. They could potentially sue the accuser, but I doubt they could really get anything from her...
Even when they are disbarred for their actions?
mbklein
12-29-2006, 01:43 PM
I asked the same question on TCF, and someone (I forget who) pointed out that Nifong went into huge debt to finance his reelection campaign. So he's pretty much judgment-proof, even if they went after him and won.
Mikkel_Knight
12-30-2006, 07:27 AM
I asked the same question on TCF, and someone (I forget who) pointed out that Nifong went into huge debt to finance his reelection campaign. So he's pretty much judgment-proof, even if they went after him and won.
Which sucks.

The athletes (while certainly not saints by any stretch of the imagination) are ruined. Not only did they lose out on a year of athletics when their program was cancelled, but the program itself has a HUGE tarnish stain on it now that will potentially have incomming recruits question their commitment to Duke.

There is no way to get their reputation back, nor their (athletes accused) dignity. They were paraded about here and fro all because the DA figured it'd be good for his own personal career.

Ass. The guy should never again be allowed to practice ANY form of law and should be made to work forever more as a minimum wage employee shovelling the refuse produced by the school until he's old and grey and can't pick up a shovel anymore.

Then they should take him out back and shoot him. In the crotch. Twice. And leave him for dead.

Yet another example of why the justice system is looked upon with distrust and scorn.
BrettStah
12-30-2006, 09:14 AM
The DA should be removed from office in disgrace. What a joke.

However, some of the Duke lacrosse team seems to be assholes, to say the least. Not too surprising - many college students are, especially many athletes. They didn't deserve what happened to them in this case, but I don't feel quite as bad for them as I would have if they weren't assholes.
mmg
12-30-2006, 10:51 AM
My sister lives in Durham. She said that the reason that the North Carolina bar is going after Nifong is because of the influence of a lot of Duke Law alumni. If this ever does go to trial, Durham county is about 40% black which won't bode well for the Lacrosse players; this is what Nifong is counting on.
Chapper
12-30-2006, 12:37 PM
Even when they are disbarred for their actions?

Yes, I believe that is still true that they cannot be sued, even if disbarred...
betamax
12-30-2006, 12:43 PM
The DA should be removed from office in disgrace. What a joke.

However, some of the Duke lacrosse team seems to be assholes, to say the least. Not too surprising - many college students are, especially many athletes. They didn't deserve what happened to them in this case, but I don't feel quite as bad for them as I would have if they weren't assholes.

Yeah, the guys put themselves in a bad position. Its kind of like a woman who dresses like a tramp and then gets herself raped. Did she deserve it? No. Could she have done something to help prevent it? Yes. These kids should have been smart enough to not get in that position in the first place.

But Nifong clearly had a personal agenda. His quotes showed how blind he was. We need to make sure he gets out of office so he cannot abuse his power again.
Philosofy
12-30-2006, 02:53 PM
If you can sue a police force for brutality, why can't you sue the justice system for abuse?
betamax
12-30-2006, 04:51 PM
If you can sue a police force for brutality, why can't you sue the justice system for abuse?

They might be able to sue the city. Of course if the kids win, they'd probably blow the money on a party with hookers.
JohnJr
12-30-2006, 05:25 PM
... and booze.

-John
pseudonym
12-30-2006, 06:20 PM
They might be able to sue the city. Of course if the kids win, they'd probably blow the money on a party with hookers.
And the Circle of Life continues. Or the Circle of Obnoxious Frat Boys. Otherwise known as the Circle Jerk (I crack myself up sometimes :2funny:)