Mike Nifong Resigns

The New York Times reports that Mike Nifong, the prosecutor in the Duke rape case, says he plans to quit his job. He admitted that he “had ‘crossed the line’ of ethical standards in some of the public statements he made about the Duke University lacrosse players he charged with rape.”

Nifong made his announcement “on the stand at the end of several hours of testimony in a state bar association hearing on whether he had violated ethical standards for prosecutors.” Not only did he admit that he “crossed the line,” he also apologized “to the families of the Duke students he had charged, and for any harm he had done to the criminal justice system in North Carolina.” However, he denied he had lied and said “would continue to defend himself against allegations that he had.”

He also said “he had not intentionally withheld evidence in the case, though he” admitted he had made quite some mistakes. He blamed some of the mistakes – like mishandling evidence and not turning favorable DNA tests over to defense lawyers – on his “his inexperience in handling felony cases and oversight.”

According to the article at the Times, Nifong was very emotional, choking back tears, etc. The emotions and apologies did not impress Joe Cheshire, a lawyer for one of the Duke defendants. Cheshire said: “I believe it’s a cynical, political attempt to save his law license. His apology is far too late.” Neither am I impressed. Holding back evidence is not a matter of experience, it is a matter of being over-ambitious. I have not written a lot about this case, but I did keep an eye on articles and posts about it and Nifong comes across as a prosecutor who wants to prosecute someone, anyone. He believed the suspects were guilty and, so, he decided to hold back evidence / information that could weaken his case.

Let me quote the article:

The bar has accused him of “systematic abuse of prosecutorial discretion” and “conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation.”

During the previous days of testimony, Mr. Nifong has been accused of hiding and lying about DNA testing that showed that four unidentified men had contact with the accuser, who was hired by the lacrosse team in March 2006.

Mr. Nifong is also accused of inflaming the community and damaging the rights of the defendants with pre-trial publicity when he said he was certain that a gang rape had occurred.

Not only should Nifong resign, he should also be prosecuted. He should be punished for what he put the defendents through. He made their lives hell. They were considered outcasts, all because Mr. Nifong decided that the rules did not apply to them and that putting the suspects behind bars was more important than anything else.