Time for Nifong to See Courtroom from the Other Side

Michael Nifong needs to be tried for malfeasance and false arrest. With this move, it is becoming more and more clear that DA Michael Nifong is guilty of pandering to the black population of Durham to further his political career at the expense of destroying the lives of these Duke students.

Prosecutor Seeks to Bow Out of Duke Case
Embattled DA Asks State to Take Over

By Peter Whoriskey and Sylvia Adcock
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, January 13, 2007; Page A01

After months of stinging criticism about his handling of the Duke University sexual assault investigation, Durham District Attorney Michael B. Nifong sought to bow out of the case yesterday, requesting that the North Carolina Attorney General's Office handle the prosecution.

His decision to recuse himself was welcomed by the defense team representing the three Duke lacrosse players initially accused of raping a 28-year-old stripper at a team party.

We feel very good about this. It's a fresh set of eyes looking at the case," said William Cotter of Raleigh, one of three attorneys for Collin Finnerty of Garden City, N.Y. "We think it's more likely that they will listen to us and we will certainly be cooperative with him or her."

The defense believes that another prosecutor would, after reviewing the contradictions of the alleged victim's accounts and the paucity of physical evidence, drop the case.

Nifong's behavior has been outrageous from the very start of this case. He is making this move in a sad attempt to protect himself from his own bad choices. For him to have brought rape charges against the Lacrosse team members without even having discussed the case with the accuser is unforgivable. The man callously used the lives of the three Duke Lacrosse Team members as a ladder to lift himself up and get elected. He has shown no deferrence to their privacy, their families, or their futures.

Nifong jumped on this case because he saw political advantage in attacking 3 rich white kids on behalf of a poor black woman. He failed to do a thorough investigation before going public and concealed exculpatory information from the defense team for his own political aspirations. He not only needs to be criminally prosecuted for this miscarriage of justice, he needs to be penalized financially in Civil Court for his actions.

District Attornies have tremendous power over our lives, and they therefore need to be held to an extremely high standard of behavior. Michael Nifong failed to achieve that standard.

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