KC Johnson (at left above with Terry Holt, center, and Stephen Miller, right), blogger and Brooklyn College professor, told an audience at Duke University last night that the Duke lacrosse case is a perfect example of how “flawed procedure begets flawed results.” Later, after recounting one of his recent blog posts that pointed to several provisions of the N.C. Bar Association’s Code of Professional Responsibility that Durham DA Mike Nifong had violated, he reworded his assessment thusly: “Corrupt procedures beget corrupted results.”
He speculated that Nifong backed himself into a corner with statements such as his ESPN comment that the players wouldn’t be hiring lawyers if they were innocent, Nifong’s characterization of the players as hooligans, and his false assertions that the players had used aliases at the party and choke holds on the women. If Nifong had not gone so far out on a limb, Johnson said, it might have been easier for him to drop the case after the DNA tests came back negative. But those comments, and the fact that Nifong had $30,000 of his own money tied up in his campaign, forced him to continue despite a lack of evidence.
Nothing much can be done about this, he said, because North Carolina is one of the few states without a procedure to oust a rogue prosecutor while a prosecution is ongoing. Amazingly, under North Carolina law, any complaint against Nifong would have to come from Nifong himself, Johnson said.
Johnson concluded his comments by criticizing those in Durham who want a trial so that it might “heal the community.” He singled out Bob Ashley, editor of The Herald-Sun for an editorial that said as much. “Editor Ashley seems not to know that political show trials went out of fashion when the Berlin Wall came down.” Johnson said.
[Be sure to check out John in Carolina’s take on the panel. He was there too.]
