Friday, September 29, 2006

Duke lacrosse: Johnsville’s Questions

Johnsville News has Nifong questions. JN starts off:

Durham has real problems - gang problems. How are Mike Nifong and the Durham Police Department able to justify in their minds expending the time and effort on prosecuting a hoax against three innocent lacrosse players, when gang violence is erupting in the Durham courthouse? ….

ABC reported:
The first-degree murder trial of 17-year old Calvin Nicholson is on hold. He is accused of gunning down an 18-year-old Hillside High School student on Bacon Street in 2005. Police say it was gang-related.

Tuesday's courthouse melee erupted on the fifth-floor, after key witnesses backed out of the Nicholson trial. They said they were being threatened.

"An incident occurred when information came up that caused people from one courtroom and gang to come to the other courtroom, where members of a rival gang were involved," said Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong.

Durham police are investigating the threats, which are a major challenge in prosecuting gang-related trials.

"You can't really conduct trials in an atmosphere, where there is intimidation of witnesses, or where there is fear that something might happen," Nifong said. "The District Attorney's Office is not equipped to protect witnesses in any situation. There aren't any local witness protection programs, or anything of that nature. The fact is people are to some extent on their own, in terms of their protection." (bold JN)
People are on their own in terms of their protection? So that’s what DA Nifong has given us. Well, at least it’s more truthful than most of what he’s been saying.

Johnsville continues with the usual smart commentary:
The District Attorney's Office is ill equipped to protect witnesses in any situation or protect the citizens of Durham from gang violence because the office is totally distracted by this lacrosse hoax. Until this hoax is dropped and Mike Nifong is removed from office the Durham District Attorney's Office will be fighting crime with one hand tied behind its back.

Who does not think that Mike Nifong is emotionally involved with this case? His obsession certainly impacts the performance of the entire DA's office.

Nifong is spending his time filing ridiculous legal motions in the Duke case about telephone surveys that involve his wife. Last Friday he spends basically the entire day at courthouse on his hoax. This doesn't count Nifong's countless hours of case related preparation, time obsessing about the case, and time spent dealing with at least seven outstanding defense attorneys.
There’s a lot more to the JN post. You can read it all here.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

"You can't really conduct trials in an atmosphere, where there is intimidation of witnesses, or where there is fear that something might happen," Nifong said.

This is very troubling to me...is he saying that these cases simply can't be tried, due to fear and intimidation of witnesses?! So, what does the genius Nifong propose doing about these trials? Should they just give up, and allow the defendants to go free? Or does he propose just throwing them in jail, without a trial? I'll tell you, maybe if the Durham courts start CRACKING DOWN on this intimidation, for instance, by ending the practice of allowing thugs to stay inside courtrooms after threatening defendants (Reade S. comes to mind), these trials could perhaps proceed in a more orderly fashion...I'm left with no other conclusion save the one that shows the lunatics are running the asylum that is the Durham justice system...

Anonymous said...

Exactly, wasn't Nifong even in the courtroom when The New Black Pathers were making threats at against Seligmann at one hearing?

Anonymous said...

"Until this hoax is dropped and Mike Nifong is removed from office the Durham District Attorney's Office will be fighting crime with one hand tied behind its back"

And no brain or morality anywhere in the vicinity.

Christopher Cox said...

As an observer of the political scene from Florida, I can say without equivocation that Mike Nifong has conducted the Duke Rape Case like a rudder-less ship, oblivious to the winds of truth and the high seas of public contempt. He is a disgrace to his profession and an embarrassment to his state. His removal from office should be swift and without question.