Becky Says...

June 2007

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A Chapter Ends - June 17

So this chapter of the saga ends. The North Carolina State Bar has taken into account the evidence of unethical conduct and found Mike Nifong guilty of same. And he has been disbarred.

Mr. Nifong himself, through his attorney, stated that he felt that being disbarred was appropriate. The Bar panel definitely agreed. And so do I.

I don't pretend to know Mr. Nifong's motives in terms of his actions in the case brought against the three young men from Duke University. But the comments he made definitely sounded political. They stirred up the emotions associated with racism and classism, and the case definitely served him well in his election campaign last November.

By the way, one bit that has gotten lost in most of the tellings is that Mr. Nifong had told Governor Mike Easley that he would not run for election. Governor Easley had appointed Mr. Nifong to the District Attorney job when the prior D.A. was appointed a judge.

But then came this case, and what must have looked like a sure election win. Had Mr. Nifong had the courage to say, out loud, no rape occurred, no one was guilty of any crime, and oops, the accuser is changing her story as often as most of us change our clothes, he might just have been elected anyway.

But he didn't. He went on and on with his plans to prosecute the three young men, until finally there was so much obviously wrong with the case that he turned it over to the Attorney General. The AG., as you probably know, investigated and announced that the three men were innocent.

I have a lot of hope about the outcome of this mess of a case. First and foremost, I hope those three young men and their families have most excellent lives. I know they all think their names will be forever tainted, but with all the news coverage that the D.A. has been disbarred, I think a lot of the taint will go away. And frankly, I hope they sue his ass off.

Second, I hope that people's faith in attorneys will be strengthened, from seeing that the State Bar was not willing to let this man's violation of ethics go unnoted nor unpunished.

Third, I hope that the next District Attorney in Durham County is someone worthy of the position. It has been stressed several times of late that the D.A.'s first obligation is to seek the truth. That outweighs any win record. I actually hope Governor Easley appoints someone who has never worked in the Durham D.A.'s office, just to give some fresh perspective.

Fourth, I hope the accuser will get some help, because I think she really needs it.

And fifth, but certainly not least, I hope this opens people's eyes to seek truth. We all deserve that, no matter what the question.

Text � copyright 2000-2007 Becky