Mr. Nifong has insisted he did not lie about the DNA evidence, but he has admitted that his public statements stirred outrage and were unethical. Mr. Nifong’s lawyers said that no date had been set for the resignation but that it would be prompt. The disbarment takes effect in 30 days.
Jun 17, 2007 · RALEIGH, N.C. – District Attorney Mike Nifong was disbarred Saturday for his "selfish" rape prosecution of three Duke University lacrosse players — a politically motivated act, his judges said ...
Jun 16, 2007 · Mr. Brock, the bar prosecutor, said a poll by Mr. Nifong’s political opponent in the election for district attorney showed Mr. Nifong was trailing, by 20 percent to 37 percent, on March 27, 2006 ...
Feb 10, 2009 · Email this article. RALEIGH, N.C., June 16, 2007 — -- Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong has been disbarred after being found guilty of a battery of ethics violations for his handling ...
When the Duke lacrosse case first hit the headlines, Nifong was acting District Attorney, a long-time prosecutor who was a few months from having to win an election to keep the job he inherited when his boss was appointed to the bench. Opposing him in a likely tight race was an attorney he had once fired, and who would probably return the favor ...
In the Duke case in 2006, when Nifong was the chief district attorney in Durham, a woman told police that she had been raped at a house party held by the men's lacrosse team. ... Nifong was disbarred in June 2007 and found guilty of contempt of court in September 2007. He was ordered to serve one day in jail.Aug 30, 2016
After 15 months of waging war in the Duke lacrosse case, Durham County District Attorney Michael B. Nifong surrendered his law license yesterday. Nifong gave up minutes after a state panel ruled that he had intentionally and repeatedly lied and cheated as he prosecuted three former lacrosse players on rape charges.
In November 2013, she was found guilty of second-degree murder after she stabbed boyfriend Reginald Daye, who died 10 days after. She argued that she acted in self-defense, fearing that Daye would kill her. She was sentenced to 14 to 18 years in prison.
Nifong was running for office for the first time, since the previous district attorney who stepped down appointed him to the post.Nov 7, 2006
Today, he works as a law clerk at the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. Finnerty also left Duke as a sophomore, and finished his degree at Loyola College in Maryland. Today, he works as an analyst at Deutsche Bank.May 29, 2014
Three Duke University lacrosse players and the City of Durham settled a long-running lawsuit Friday, closing another chapter in a case that exposed flaws in the Durham justice system and ended a district attorney's legal career.May 16, 2014
The bar's three-member disciplinary panel unanimously found Nifong guilty of fraud, dishonesty, deceit or misrepresentation; of making false statements of material fact before a judge; of making false statements of material fact before bar investigators, and of lying about withholding exculpatory DNA evidence, among ...Feb 10, 2009
In these interviews, Nifong repeatedly said that he was "confident that a rape occurred", calling the players "a bunch of hooligans" whose "daddies could buy them expensive lawyers." From early April 2006, however, Nifong generally refused to talk to the media.
Reginald DayeIn November 2013, she was found guilty of second-degree murder after she stabbed boyfriend Reginald Daye, who died 10 days after. She argued that she acted in self-defense, fearing that Daye would kill her.
ESPN's latest 30 for 30 documentary, Fantastic Lies, focuses on the Duke lacrosse scandal and will make you question the all-controlling power of authority and all of your college-focused prejudices. Also, it's now on Netflix.Apr 19, 2016
Eventually, to defend himself in front of the state bar, Nifong had to recuse himself from the case, and he handed it over to Roy Cooper, the North Carolina attorney general who four months later dropped the remaining charges against the players, declared them “innocent,” and called Nifong a “rogue prosecutor.”Mar 10, 2016
An autopsy, released in August 2013, showed Finnerty died of pneumonia brought on by inhalation of vomit after he became disoriented.
Reade Seligmann Seligmann went to Brown University after leaving Duke, playing lacrosse there. After Brown, he went to Emory Law School, according to his LinkedIn profile.Mar 14, 2016
Ten years ago, on the night of March 13, 2006, Mangum and another woman were hired by members of the Duke Lacrosse team to dance and strip at a house party. ... Mangum lives on in the public consciousness as one of America's most infamous rape accusers.Mar 10, 2016
ESPN's '30 for 30' documentary 'Fantastic Lies' probes the infamous 2006 Duke lacrosse case, where three white student-athletes were (falsely) accused of raping a black stripper.Apr 13, 2017
The entire Duke-lacrosse criminal case, from the night in question to the dismissal of the criminal charges against three players—Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann, and David Evans—took 13 months.Mar 24, 2014
He was fired in 2006 in the wake of allegations of rape against three athletes in the program that proved to be baseless. Pressler's firing was publicly portrayed by Duke as a resignation, which gave rise to the implication that the coach resigned due to the students' presumed guilt.
On September 7, 2007, after having already been disbarred, Nifong reported to the Durham County jail to serve a one-day jail sentence for contempt of court. He was held alone in a cell for his protection.
Nifong gave more than 50 interviews, many with the national media, according to his own account and confirmed by the News & Observer. In these interviews, Nifong repeatedly said that he was "confident that a rape occurred", calling the players "a bunch of hooligans" whose "daddies could buy them expensive lawyers.".
Nifong was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and attended New Hanover High School . He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in 1971 with a degree in political science. He registered as a conscientious objector and participated in anti-war protests during the Vietnam War. After working as a teacher and social worker, Nifong returned to UNC in 1975 and earned a J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1978. He was admitted to the North Carolina bar.
Nifong is twice married, his second wife is Cy Gurney, regional administrator of North Carolina Guardian ad Litem. He has a daughter from his first marriage and a son with Gurney. He lives in northern Durham County.
He eventually worked his way up to chief assistant. After District Attorney Jim Hardin was appointed to a Superior Court vacancy in 2005, Governor Mike Easley appointed Nifong to fill out the remainder of Hardin's term. Nifong was sworn in on April 27, 2005.
On June 16, 2007, the North Carolina State Bar Disciplinary Committee unanimously voted to disbar Nifong after delivering a guilty verdict to 27 of 32 charges. The committee found Nifong's previous disciplinary record and acknowledgment of his improper pre-trial statements were substantially outweighed by (among other things) the players' vulnerability and his failure to acknowledge the "wrongful nature of (his) conduct with respect of the handling of DNA evidence."
On January 15, 2008, Nifong filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. He listed assets of almost $244,000 and liabilities of over $180.3 million, virtually all of which derived from six $30 million "unsecured nonpriority claims", one for each of the six members of the 2005–06 Duke lacrosse team suing Nifong, among others.
Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong, who rose to international infamy due to his handling of the Duke lacrosse team “rape” case, must now face the music. His trial on ethics charges brought by the North Carolina State Bar started today. According to WRAL.com, Nifong’s lawyer, David Freedman, offered this argument in his opening statement: “It ]
Mike Nifong Is Bankrupt (and Not Just in the Ethical Sense) From the Smoking Gun: Disgraced and disbarred, Mike Nifong is now bankrupt. The former North Carolina prosecutor, whose career imploded with his botched handling of the Duke University rape case, today filed for bankruptcy, listing liabilities in excess of $180 million.
Michael Byron Nifong (born September 14, 1950) is an American former North Carolina attorney, who has been disbarred. He served as the district attorney for Durham County, North Carolina until he was removed, disbarred and jailed following court findings concerning his conduct in the Duke lacrosse case, primarily his conspiring with the DNA lab director to withhold exculpatory DNA evidence that could have acquitted the defendants.
Nifong was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and attended New Hanover High School. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) in 1971 with a degree in political science. He registered as a conscientious objector and participated in anti-war protests during the Vietnam War. After working as a teacher and social worker, Nifong returned to UNC in 1975 and earned a J.D. degree from the University of North Carolina School of Lawin 1978…
After spending a year as a per diem assistant with the Durham County District Attorney's office, Nifong was hired on a full-time basis in 1979. He eventually worked his way up to chief assistant. After District Attorney Jim Hardin was appointed to a Superior Court vacancy in 2005, Governor Mike Easley appointed Nifong to fill out the remainder of Hardin's term. Nifong was sworn in on April 27, 2005. As the Duke lacrosse case unfolded, Nifong won the Democratic primaryon May 2, …
In 2006, Nifong pursued rape, sexual assault, and kidnapping charges against Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans, three white members of the Duke University men's lacrosse team. The accusation of sexual assault was made by Crystal Mangum, one of two local black woman who the lacrosse team hired to work as strippers at a party. The case attracted national and international media attention. Former New York Times public editor Daniel Okrentwrote, "It [the ca…
On December 28, 2006, the North Carolina State Bar filed ethics charges against Nifong over his conduct in the case, accusing him of making public statements that were "prejudicial to the administration of justice" and of engaging in "conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation." The seventeen-page document accuses Nifong of violating four rules of professional conduct, listing more than fifty examples of statements he made to the media.
On June 16, 2007, the North Carolina State Bar Disciplinary Committee unanimously voted to disbar Nifong after delivering a guilty verdict to 27 of 32 charges. The committee found Nifong's previous disciplinary record and acknowledgment of his improper pre-trial statements were substantially outweighed by (among other things) the players' vulnerability and his failure to acknowledge the "wrongful nature of (his) conduct with respect of the handling of DNA evidence."
On September 7, 2007, after having already been disbarred, Nifong reported to the Durham County jail to serve a one-day jail sentence for contempt of court. He was held alone in a cell for his protection.
On October 5, 2007, Evans, Finnerty, and Seligmann filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Nifong engineered a wide-ranging conspiracy to frame the players. Also named in the suit were the lab that handled the DNA work, the city of Durham, the city's former police chief, the deputy police chief, the two police detectives who handled the case and five other police department employees. The players sought unspecified damages, and wanted to place the Durham Police D…