Mike Nifong and The Duke Lacross Case
Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong stated publicly that a small group of lacrosse players from Duke University raped a woman. After putting these young men and the University through a living hell, it was Nifong who was the ultimate wrong doer. He has had his bar license taken from him and he, himself, is facing criminal charges. Don’t fool yourself. The Nifong problem is not isolated to Durham, North Carolina. Quite often, I find reasonable doubt that is clearly obvious in a court file provided by the prosecutor; however, the young and inexperienced prosecutor, fueled by their need for trial experience and/or directed by a supervising district attorney looking to make a name for him or herself pushes the case to trial. Regardless of what the underlying reason is, the issue is people’s lives. Things happen. People make mistakes, whether they are the a private person or public employees like law enforcement detectives, police officers and/or criminalists. D.A.’s should focus on the facts. If there is a questionable issue in a case the case should be either dismissed or reduced to give a wake up call to a person who MAY have made a mistake. What shouldn’t happen is a case being pushed to trial when the facts are questionable or reasonable doubt exists from the facts. Either way, if you are the unlikely sole looking at criminal charges, you better be ready to fight like hell.
