How can Durham DA Mike Nifong be blasted out of his fabricated legal bunker where he's holding three Duke lacrosse players hostage? Where is the legal or ethical SWAT team that will take down this "petty tyrant?"
Certainly the defense lawyers have done everything they can in hitting Nifong with a barrage of pertinent legal motions. But, they don't look like they will dislodge him from his stronghold position.
Calls for a special prosecutor have gone nowhere. Petitions don't look like they will work.
A massive volume of harsh media criticism doesn't mean anything. It just hardens Mr. Nifong's bunker mentality.
Is waiting for a trial next year, possibly in the spring, the best course of action?
The lacrosse players themselves are divided on how they would like the hoax to end. Half would like the cleansing effect of a trial by jury to forever remove all doubt that this was a pure hoax. The other half hate to watch their three teammates twisting in the wind until next year, and would like the case dropped.
"I think half of us want it to get dropped tonight or today," Bo Carrington said. "But at the same time, we want everything to be right out on the table and we want people to know what really happened. Half of you wants it to go to trial so that all of the facts do get shown, but at the same time, those guys are having such a hard time right now that you want it to get dropped as soon as possible."Grinding out a legal victory at trial, while morally satisfying, is an emotional and financial burden that should not be inflicted on the three innocent players and their families.
Ballots in the November election are the best weapon to end the injustice and stop the reign of the rogue DA, Mike Nifong.
Hopefully, Durham lawyer Lewis Cheek, will give Durham voters that option. Cheek's reluctance to declare his candidacy is due to his ethical obligations to his clients. Cheek's said:
"I recognize people are anxious for me to make up my mind," Cheek, a registered Democrat and Durham County commissioner, said. "It's not as easy as saying, 'Yes, I'll do it,' or 'No, I won't.' The question is what happens to my law practice if I walk out the door. I've got clients I need to take care of."Mr. Cheek, if he runs, will let Durham voters right two wrongs with one vote for him: end the hoax, banish the hoaxster.
Sadly, a Nifong loss in the November election would still leave the case hanging until 2007. Nifong would certainly keep this case active until they pry the key to the DA's office out of his cold defeated fingers.
Also Cheek, if he won, would probably want to turn the case over to a special prosecutor in order to protect the integrity of the legal system.
Removing Mr. Nifong from office is now crucial in preserving the integrity of the legal system. The master perpetrator of this legal hoax should not be allowed to remain in office and inflict further injuries to the justice system. He should be held accountable for his misdeeds both by the Durham voters and the legal system that he has tried to pervert.
Hopefully there has been a tipping point in Durham and the majority of voters feel like Ed Thomas:
In May I cast my vote for Mike Nifong to provide some continuity at a critical time for the district attorney's office. May God and my fellow citizens of Durham County forgive me for this mistake.
"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote" - George Jean Nathan.
sources:
Durham DA challenge still in doubt [newsandobserver.com, July 19, 2006]
Nifong Does Reek; So Vote Lewis Cheek [TheConservativeVoice.com, July 20, 2006]
Will the Durham Establishment Protect "Petty-Tyrant" Prosecutor Michael Nifong? [TheConservativeVoice.com, July 19, 2006]
