The Biggest Reason Defense Lawyers are Necessary

The District Attorney in the Duke lacrosse "rape" case has shown himself, over the course of the events in the Duke case, to be incompetent, at best, and a malicious and pathetic political hack at worst. From Ankle Biting Pundits, these two links, here and here detail the numerous problems which now confront DA Nifong re: his case...for one, he hasn't even spoken to the accuser about the case! This happened last year for God's sake, and evidentiary concerns aside, he is duty-bound to investigate this case, especially the story and potential testimony of his chief witness, in a timely fashion. In addition, the accuser's friend is now saying that the accuser told her to "Put marks on me" the night of the alleged rape, and perhaps even more disturbing, the DA doesn't seem to care a bit about the numerous inconsistencies in the multiple stories told by the accuser, and by her friend, Kim Roberts.

A prosecutor has a duty to investigate and make sure as best he can before filing charges that there is solid evidence and a good faith basis for doing so. Instead, it looks more and more every day like DA Nifong is nothing more than a political hack, willing to exploit racial tensions and destroy the lives of three young men based on some of the flimsiest evidence and most incompetent investigation I have ever seen...all in order to make sure he got re-elected. The defense attorneys for the 3 lacrosse players will have a field day with the accuser, her friend, and this witch-hunting District Attorney. I, for one, can't wait, because attorneys like Mr. Nifong give all lawyers a worse name than we already have...so the next time you hear someone dogging criminal defense lawyers, know that without them, people like Mr. Nifong would be able to run roughshod over potentially innocent people on a whim, and that's scary.

"The point here is that as a prosecutor you have at your disposal an almost unimaginable power - the power over people's liberty and freedom. And any prosecutor needs to realize the gravity of that power, and always be aware their duty to use it responsibly, wisely and with great care,and to do whatever they can to make sure they're right, and if there's a doubt about whether or not someone committed that crime - to do all they can to investigate and clear up that doubt.

It doesn't look like DA Nifong has done that.

Let's hope for the sake of justice he does it quickly, because not doing it is about as grave an injustice to these defendants as can be imagined." ...

"What's really scary as well is that Kim Roberts (dancer #2/accuser's friend from the party the night of the alleged incident --Ed.) said she's never been called back for a follow-up interview, even after she made the allegations that the case was a "crock" and that she only spent 5 minutes away from the accuser (which is of interest because it was claimed the incident took place over a 30 minute time period).

What everyone should be watching now is whether or not Kim Roberts is re-interviewed by Nifong, who has now taken over as "lead investigator", another action that runs counter to common sense. As a prosecutor your job is to present the case in court, not act as a cop. First, you're not trained to do that. Second, you're potentially becoming your own witness. Third, you lose all objectivity and give the defense attorney a great argument for the jury and on appeal (if need be).

I can't see any way in hell that, given her statement, Nifong can ethically not call Roberts in and re-interview her. She has given a statement that potentially exonerates the defendants, and it's Nifong's duty to ensure the charges against these defendants are legitimate. Sadly, though I don't see this happening as Nifong hasn't done a whole hell of a lot to inspire confidence that he's doing his duty."