Contacting Wendy Murphy

Legal historian and blogger KC Johnson has just posted, “The Wendy Murphy File.”

If you’ve already read it, you might want to skip down below the star line where I begin commentary and report on action taken.

I hope the rest of you read KC’s post. Here are excerpts beginning with quotes from Wendy Murphy, an adjunct professor at the New England School of Law:

"To suggest [the indicted players] were well behaved: Hitler never beat his wife either. So what?"
--“The Situation,” 5 June 2006

"I bet one or more of the players was, you know, molested or something as a child."
--“CNN Live,” 3 May 2006

"I never, ever met a false rape claim, by the way. My own statistics speak to the truth."
--“The Situation,” 5 June 2006

Three elements of this case distinguish it from its high-profile criminal counterparts.

First, the behavior and statements of the students’ own professors were cited as grounds for a change of venue—an action all but unprecedented in modern American criminal law. Second, blogs have played an important (and, I would argue, helpful) role. Third, the 24-hour cable news networks seized upon the case from the start, and have continued commentary more sporadically thereafter.

Sometimes, these shows have offered quality commentary—the “Abrams Report” early on, some broadcasts of “Greta” in recent weeks. Often, however, these programs feature little more than talking heads, with one adopting a pro-prosecution slant and another praising the defense.

A frequent guest on MSNBC, FOX, and CBS has been Wendy Murphy. Usually described as a former “sex crimes prosecutor” and law professor at Boston’s New England School of Law, she’s actually an adjunct professor, an inconvenient fact she rarely, if ever, reveals.

Murphy defended Nifong in a recent USA Today op-ed—and her remarks were eviscerated by Liestoppers, which also has nominated her as a “hag of the hoax.”

Murphy’s bizarre claims to USA Today prompted me to perform a Lexis/Nexis search of her myriad case-related appearances. The results were deeply disturbing.

In addition to the outrageous quotes highlighted above, on at least 18 occasions over the past nine months, Murphy has made demonstrably untrue statements. She also has engaged in a pattern of wholly unfounded speculation and has routinely denigrated due process.

Given that the preamble to the Massachusetts State Bar’s Rules of Professional Conduct states that “a lawyer is a representative of clients, an officer of the legal system, and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice,” Murphy’s behavior raises some serious questions:

• What sort of network would put such a figure on the air?

• How could the Massachusetts Bar license such a figure to practice law?

• How could Dean John O’Brien of New England School of Law allow such a figure to teach future lawyers? […]

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Most of you are familiar with the careful, extensivly documented posts KC Johnson produces on a daily basis. But I’m betting Wendy Murphy isn’t.

I doubt she’s read, for instance, “Roy Cooper’s Silence.” KC published that post back in June. Its topic? The NC laws and statues that related to DA Mike Nifong’s conduct and which would allow for his removal from what we were then calling “the Duke lacrosse case.”

In May KC posted “Gagging in Durham.” It included this:

If nothing else can be said about this case, it’s that the accuser has received the benefit of the doubt. Indeed, the state went so far in giving the accuser the benefit of the doubt that one prominent legal analyst, Andrew Napolitano, has predicted that the case could end with Nifong’s losing his license to practice law.

I doubt Murphy has read that post, either.

Advice to Wendy Murphy: Start following KC Johnson. Begin with “The Wendy Murphy File.” Then go back and read the two posts I’ve cited here and others in which for many months KC's pointed out actions of Nifong that merited NC State Bar review and action.

As I’m sure you know, our NC State Bar just announced it's been reviewing Nifong’s conduct and will take action with regard to it.

Now KC is calling attention to some of your public conduct; and how it appears to fail to conform to the standards the Massachusetts State Bar says its members must uphold.

For many months Nifong ignored, even ridiculed his critics. He should have taken them more seriously, especially KC Johnson and others like him.

Message to JinC readers: I’m sending Wendy Murphy the email below. I’ll let you know if I hear back.
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Dear Professor Murphy:

I blog at www.johnincarolina.com and have posted often on what has really now become the Nifong Hoax Case.

I’ve never posted concerning your case commentary but my attention was drawn to legal historian KC Johnson’s post today: “The Wendy Murphy File.”

But Johnson’s post provides so much documentation and deals with such important matters, that I’ve posted on it.

Here’s a link to my post, “Contacting Wendy Murphy:”

I’ll publish in full a response you make to Johnson’s post. My practice is to let a respondent’s post “sit” on the main page for a day or two before responding. That gives the respondent a chance to “have a say” without my immediately jumping in. It also allows JinC readers to judge for themselves the respondent’s reply.

JinC is read often by journalists here in North Carolina and elsewhere.

Sincerely,

John in Carolina
www.johnincarolina.com
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Message to KC Johnson: When I finished reading your Wendy Murphy File post, I didn’t say, “KC can't top today’s post.” That’s because every time I say you can’t top one post, you go on and produce another post that’s even better.

So I’ll just say: “Thank you for reminding Murphy she's a member of the Massachusetts State Bar; and for letting us know what we should expect from Murphy by virtue of her Bar membership.

I hope she has sense, care and character enough to respond fully and professionally to your post.