NationStates Jolt Archive

I guess this just strengthens his case even more. (sarcasm)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061228/ap_on_re_us/duke_lacrosse_ethics

N.C. bar files charges against Duke D.A.

By AARON BEARD, Associated Press Writer 51 minutes ago

RALEIGH, N.C. - The North Carolina bar filed ethics charges Thursday against the prosecutor in the Duke lacrosse case, accusing him of saying misleading or inflammatory things to the news media about the athletes under suspicion.


The punishment for ethics violations can range from admonishment to disbarment.

Among the four rules of professional conduct that District Attorney Mike Nifong was accused of violating was a prohibition against making comments "that have a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of the accused."

Tuh. It's just another political maneuver in what should be a mere criminal case.

allow me to repeat what I did in an earlier thread about this case:

in my opinion as a non criminal, non trial oriented attorney....I would have hurried the fuck up on the DNA evidence, and when it became clear that there was none, dropped it. In other words, I would have done the same thing ultimitly, but I would have shut the fuck up, kept quiet, and made sure I had some actual evidence before talking to the press like this dumbshit DA did.

The thing is, the criminal justice system is like a machine. And as a machine, it has a process, a series of steps to reach the end result, and you have to go through EACH AND EVERY STEP, you need to follow the whole process:

step 1: does law enforcement have reasonable cause to believe a crime may have been committed?

if yes proceed to step 2

step 2: Based on that reasonable belief, has the law enforcement demonstrated probable cause to procure any and all necessary paperwork and judicially granted authority?

if yes proceed to step 3

step 3: Has the law enforcement, given all necessary and proper paperwork and judicially granted authority conducted an investigation with all due diligance?

if yes proceed to step 4

step 4: Has the law enforcment presented all evidence obtained through their due diligance to the proper state/federal attorney while observing all necessary and proper chains of evidence?

if yes proceed to step 5

step 5: Has the attorney for the government properly and with all due diligance evaluated all comprensive evidence presented to him/her to the point where he/she believes that there is a sufficiency of evidence to bring to trial?

if yes proceed to step 6

step 6: at trial, has the factfinder(s) had a chance to view all evidence presented both by the government as well as all evidence and rebuttal presented by the accused so that the factfider(s) can conclude that the accused is guilty beyond all reasonable doubt?

if yes, convict.

If at any point in this structure your answer is "no", stop. Go no further. Go back a step and try again, and keep trying until you either get a yes, or can go no further (or double jeopardy precludes).

This case seems to have broken down at step 5. The DA seemed to have made his mind up before all necessary and proper evidence has been presented. In fact, it seems it broke down at step 4, since I wonder, why the HELL a dna analysis in a fucking rape charge took so damned long.

im glad someone is doing something to stop this man. persuing the rape case is a travesty of justice and if all they can do is make him stop fanning the flames then good for them. maybe next they will get to a way to get him kicked out of office for persuing a case for the purpose of garnering votes.

im glad someone is doing something to stop this man. persuing the rape case is a travesty of justice and if all they can do is make him stop fanning the flames then good for them. maybe next they will get to a way to get him kicked out of office for persuing a case for the purpose of garnering votes.

Why is it no one considers these people may be innocent?

Why is it no one considers these people may be innocent?

umm, I think that most of us consider that they are, or at very least, if they are guilty, the DA still should not have proceeded with the lack of evidence he had.

There's no question that the potential exists that this DA ran with this case for political reasons. That said, I have to wonder how many people with connections to Duke also have connections to the NC bar association? I mean, while this wouldn't be the first time a DA ran with a shit case in order to win an election, it also wouldn't be the first time that a group of wealthy people hung together to protect the kids of their own.

There's no question that the potential exists that this DA ran with this case for political reasons. That said, I have to wonder how many people with connections to Duke also have connections to the NC bar association? I mean, while this wouldn't be the first time a DA ran with a shit case in order to win an election, it also wouldn't be the first time that a group of wealthy people hung together to protect the kids of their own.

while this is true, speaking as a lawyer myself, in my own opinion, given what I have seen of the evidence, me personally I don't think proceeding with this case was a legally sound decision.

while this is true, speaking as a lawyer myself, in my own opinion, given what I have seen of the evidence, me personally I don't think proceeding with this case was a legally sound decision.

If the news accounts are accurate (always an iffy proposition), then you're probably right, but those are awfully large assumptions.

Why is it no one considers these people may be innocent?

they are well beyond a reasonable doubt innocent.

one of them has an ATM picture of him taking money out of the machine at the time the alleged rape was occuring.

she said one of them had a moustache, he doesnt

she said another was wearing short sleeves, pictures show that he was wearing long sleeves.

it was necessary to investigate the case but there is no chance that these men will be convicted. in the meantime they have thousands of dollars of unnecessary legal fees to pay.

they are well beyond a reasonable doubt innocent.

one of them has an ATM picture of him taking money out of the machine at the time the alleged rape was occuring.

she said one of them had a moustache, he doesnt

she said another was wearing short sleeves, pictures show that he was wearing long sleeves.

it was necessary to investigate the case but there is no chance that these men will be convicted. in the meantime they have thousands of dollars of unnecessary legal fees to pay.

Don't forget that I believe she has claimed to have been raped before, only it turned out the guy she accused was innocent. Let's also not forget the picture taken shortly afterwards in which she was smiling. Most people are more along the lines of tearful misery after rape, so I've heard.

allow me to repeat what I did in an earlier thread about this case:

in my opinion as a non criminal, non trial oriented attorney....I would have hurried the fuck up on the DNA evidence, and when it became clear that there was none, dropped it. In other words, I would have done the same thing ultimitly, but I would have shut the fuck up, kept quiet, and made sure I had some actual evidence before talking to the press like this dumbshit DA did.

The thing is, the criminal justice system is like a machine. And as a machine, it has a process, a series of steps to reach the end result, and you have to go through EACH AND EVERY STEP, you need to follow the whole process:

step 1: does law enforcement have reasonable cause to believe a crime may have been committed?

if yes proceed to step 2

step 2: Based on that reasonable belief, has the law enforcement demonstrated probable cause to procure any and all necessary paperwork and judicially granted authority?

if yes proceed to step 3

step 3: Has the law enforcement, given all necessary and proper paperwork and judicially granted authority conducted an investigation with all due diligance?

if yes proceed to step 4

step 4: Has the law enforcment presented all evidence obtained through their due diligance to the proper state/federal attorney while observing all necessary and proper chains of evidence?

if yes proceed to step 5

step 5: Has the attorney for the government properly and with all due diligance evaluated all comprensive evidence presented to him/her to the point where he/she believes that there is a sufficiency of evidence to bring to trial?

if yes proceed to step 6

step 6: at trial, has the factfinder(s) had a chance to view all evidence presented both by the government as well as all evidence and rebuttal presented by the accused so that the factfider(s) can conclude that the accused is guilty beyond all reasonable doubt?

if yes, convict.

If at any point in this structure your answer is "no", stop. Go no further. Go back a step and try again, and keep trying until you either get a yes, or can go no further (or double jeopardy precludes).

This case seems to have broken down at step 5. The DA seemed to have made his mind up before all necessary and proper evidence has been presented. In fact, it seems it broke down at step 4, since I wonder, why the HELL a dna analysis in a fucking rape charge took so damned long.

Good points, but let me tell you what the most important issues in this case were. I live next to Durham, and I am very familiar with the political shenanigans that go on in Durham.

This case was brought to light right before the NC Elections, in which the DA's position was also up for election. Durham is about 65% Black, or African-American. This made this case of a Black/African-American victim and White criminal very useful for the election. DA Nifong went public very early, only to be able to apease to the Black voters. He was facing some opposition for the DA office. The result? Mike Nifong was re-elected as District Attorney for Durham County.

There's no question that the potential exists that this DA ran with this case for political reasons. That said, I have to wonder how many people with connections to Duke also have connections to the NC bar association? I mean, while this wouldn't be the first time a DA ran with a shit case in order to win an election, it also wouldn't be the first time that a group of wealthy people hung together to protect the kids of their own.

Let's not forget the deliberate concealment of exculpatory evidence by the DA, which was the DNA tests that exonerated all of the accused, and proved that contrary to the victim's sworn statement that she hadn't had sex in a week, the semen of five different men (none of whom were at the party) was found in her vagina.

Go ahead - if you could convict ANYONE after presenting the DNA evidence in defense, and presenting the fact that the DA concealed this, and the fact that this shows the accuser to be a liar...

they are well beyond a reasonable doubt innocent.

one of them has an ATM picture of him taking money out of the machine at the time the alleged rape was occuring.

she said one of them had a moustache, he doesnt

she said another was wearing short sleeves, pictures show that he was wearing long sleeves.

it was necessary to investigate the case but there is no chance that these men will be convicted. in the meantime they have thousands of dollars of unnecessary legal fees to pay.

But it is usually up to a jury to decide reasonable doubt ... the DA is not held to that same level

I am not saying what he has done is right at all but he is not in a position to or should not be deciding on prosecution on weather he thinks they are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt

That is not his job ... he should be deciding based on evidence and ability to prosecute.

But it is usually up to a jury to decide reasonable doubt ... the DA is not held to that same level

I am not saying what he has done is right at all but he is not in a position to or should not be deciding on prosecution on weather he thinks they are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt

That is not his job ... he should be deciding based on evidence and ability to prosecute.

it is exactly his job.

the case needed to be investigated, evidence taken, witnesses interviewed.

when you do a photo lineup that includes ONLY members of the lacrosse team, is she going to fail to accuse a member of the lacrosse team?

when one of the men she accuses can immediately show that he was elsewhere, with photographic proof from the atm machine

when her coworker doesnt back up her story

when the evidence collected doesnt support her story

you dont proceed.

DAs dont prosecute hundreds of complaints a year. there just isnt enough time and staff to take every possible case to court. if s/he knows that the case is unwinnable (especially with an unreliable complaintant and no corroberating evidence) s/he drops it.

I heard that the Rape charges were dropped to sexual assault... is that still holding or was it dropped to Obscene conduct?

I heard that the Rape charges were dropped to sexual assault... is that still holding or was it dropped to Obscene conduct?

As of yesterday, 29 Dec 07, the Rape charges have been dropped. However, the Felony Sexual Assault and Kidnapping charges are still holding by DA Nifong.

Vic