I have been so hesitant to post about the whole Duke LAX mess. I have such mixed
emotions. As a Duke grad (T88) I am saddened by the whole affair.
As a career
prosecutor (14 years) it's just another difficult case. So much has been made of
Nifong's actions. I have to say that I haven't followed his actions so closely,
but from what I've seen, he hasn't done anything out of the ordinary.
My boss,
my elected DA, takes cases all the time. He is, first and foremost, a trial attorney,
so the fact that Nifong himself is handling this, doesn't alarm me at all.
Additionally, although the parties may balk, as an officer of the court, it's his obligation to
have outstanding warrants served if he knows the whereabouts of the parties.
So,
again, not so alarming that the second dancer and the cab driver had old outstanding
warrants served.
Unfortunately, as is often the case, the media has fallen prey
to some excellent manipulation on the part of the defense attorneys. They are wise to attempt to try the case in the public eye before it ever gets to court,
however unethical this may be (it is against the rules of professional conduct in my state, and probably North Carolina as well).
As is often the case, I don't know who to believe. My instinct is to believe
the dancer, but there obvious holes in her story. If she is lying, she has done
a horrible disservice to every sex crimes victim out there.
On the other hand,
the obvious attempt to discredit her in the press is the reason so many sex crime
victims don't report their crimes. Why would anyone voluntarily subject themselves
to this type of attention if it wasn't true?
If it is true, God be with those young men. They deserve to spend some quality
time in the NC penitentiary system.
Anyway, thanks for letting me share some thoughts.