Nifong cries a river. Still gets disbarred.
“You can’t do justice in sound bites. The way to arrive at a determination of the facts is to hear in a fair and open proceeding all of the evidence … then to determine what the facts are, and we’ve done that this week. That did not happen and was not going to happen, apparently, in the Duke lacrosse case.” - NC State Bar Chairman Lane Williamson 6/16/07
The now former Durham County district attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred yesterday by the NC State Bar. The ironies of course are glaring and voluminous in the Duke Lacrosse case. To note any earns one an instant nomination as “Master of the Obvious”. Today, I get my nomination. Nifong took the case as a instrument to champion his cause to win election in November 2006. It was meant to give him credibility, respect and fame. In the end, the case shredded his credibility and destroyed all respect the public has of him. To be fair he has kept he fame; albeit the more pejorative ‘notoriety’ kind. The three wrongly accused players never found themselves on trial due to Nifong’s case; but Nifong would find himself on trial for his actions. I relent. This is just too easy. Pointing out the ironies is as easy as shooting fish in a barrel.
The disbarment marked phase 2 of justice for the three lacrosse families. Phase 1 was Roy Cooper proclaiming the players “innocent” and in a damning indictment, gave Nifong the “rogue prosecutor” moniker that follows Nifong to this day. I was at the press conference in April when the players, their family and attorneys held their press conference. The players, rather than being smitten with a pretentious aura of “I told you so” instead looked…exhausted. They looked like they had run a marathon and were finally glad to be finished. I was rather surprised by how professional and humble they were. Better men than I will ever be. The attorneys however were more unabashed in their criticism. Can’t blame them and they said things that needed to be said.Phase 3, still to come, is further justice the players deserve. It will most likely entail civil lawsuits against Nifong, the Durham Police Department inter alia.
While justice to Mike Nifong has begun, there are others for whom justice will not come. Most notably justice for the greatest legal mind of our age, a legal scholar among legal scholars, Nancy Grace (note gratuitous use of sarcasm). Before the Duke case, I had not formed much of an opinion on Grace. But it was “Law and Order”, of all shows, that first gave me insight into the modus operandi of Grace. I can’t recall the facts exactly, but the episode went like this: A teenager is kidnapped and the event garners national media coverage. The coverage is onerous at times the family. One TV reporter, of a fictional law and crime show, is notably fixated on the the case. She meets with the mother and gets exclusive access. She asks questions that stroke obvious emotions in a mother still hurting from the event. At every moment, of course, the cameras are rolling. Eventually, the body of the teenage girl is found. It becomes obvious the reporter cared less about the mother and her pain, and more about the ratings. The name of the reporter? Faith Yancy. NBC’s obvious allusion to Grace.
Again, before the false allegations were made against the Duke lacrosse team, I had heard little about Nancy Grace. Not really a CNN-Headline news channel junkie I guess. But my attention was turned to this great legal mind and scholar when she viciously attacked the entire team. Facts be damn, she often had guest on to discuss the case, discussions that were never about the merits of the case. Rather, the discussion was always framed as pro-prosecution from a former prosecutor herself. The things she said were remarkably callous, especially in light of the players being proclaimed innocent.
After the charges were dropped against the three accused, Jon Stewart did a great piece on Nancy that is worth a look.But really, you only need to hear the words of Grace herself to get a sense of the kind of person she is. Below she speaks with Elizabeth Smart who most will remember as the 14 year-old abducted from her house in Salt Lake City. Smart, a few years after her abduction, is on the show to talk about a bill she is helping to push through the Senate, but Grace can not resist the opportunity to exploit Smart and get her to talk about her abduction experience. Notice how Smart tries to get Grace to not talk about her abduction due to her discomfort. (Seems ‘Law and Order’ pegged her m.o. well) In the end however, Smart puts Grace in her place with the kind of respect and dignity Grace never gave the Duke team. Enjoy.