Brocker: He found out about the case on March 23 and by March 27 he was “out there making statements.” He had a hotly contested primary against Freda Black and that if he lost he would not have a job in the DA’s office, the only place he had ever worked as a lawyer. He also had a black candidate running who would take many black votes in the primary.
Having some technical problems with the visual aids. Kennedy: “You could do it the old-fashioned way.” Lots of laughter.
OK, it’s fixed now. He’s showing the poll where Nifong is at 20 percent in the polls, which is when he started making those comments. 35 days later Nifong won the primary with 45 percent of the vote. What happened in those 35 days was a media barrage both locally and nationally, and his declaration at a political forum that people he had already decided to indict were guilty of a gang, racially motivated crime. Result is as 25 percent swing in the polls.
Brocker: We don’t have to prove this was his motivation, but the panel can consider that it was.
