37 Facts About Mike Nifong

Mike Nifong served as the district attorney for Durham County, North Carolina until he was removed, disbarred, and very briefly 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.

Mike Nifong was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and attended New Hanover High School.

Mike Nifong graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1971 with a degree in political science.

Mike Nifong registered as a conscientious objector and participated in anti-war protests during the Vietnam War.

Mike Nifong eventually worked his way up to chief assistant.

Mike Nifong won the general election in November 2006 by a close margin of 833 votes.

Mike Nifong was strongly criticized for pressing ahead with what appeared to many to be a weak case without any physical evidence.

In January 2007, Nifong sent a letter to then-North Carolina Attorney General Roy A Cooper, asking his office to assume responsibility of the case.

Defense lawyers and media outlets were strongly critical of Mike Nifong's handling of the case.

On July 18,2006, defense lawyers charged that Mike Nifong made "unprofessional and discourteous" remarks.

Mike Nifong then went on vacation and could not be reached for further comment.

On October 27,2006, Mike Nifong said in court that neither he nor his assistants had yet discussed the alleged assault with the accuser, saying they had so far left that aspect of the investigation to the police.

Critics of the district attorney requested that Mike Nifong be investigated, punished and disbarred for his actions in this case.

On December 12,2006, Republican Representative Walter B Jones of North Carolina's 3rd district was reported to have sent a letter to US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking for an investigation into whether Nifong committed "prosecutorial misconduct" and violated the civil rights of the three suspects in the case; Gonzales stated that his office might investigate how Nifong had handled the case.

Thomas Sowell accused Mike Nifong of using the case to improve his chances in the next election by gaining large support from the African American community.

Mike Nifong ultimately won the primary and general election in the midst of the case, despite the fact that allegations of ethical improprieties had already come to light.

Mike Nifong's team argued that the law about revealing exculpatory evidence to the defense was too vague about a timetable.

On June 16,2007, the North Carolina State Bar Disciplinary Committee unanimously voted to disbar Mike Nifong after delivering a guilty verdict to 27 of 32 charges.

Mike Nifong agreed to surrender his law license and said he would not appeal; through his attorney, he said that disbarment was an appropriate punishment.

Mike Nifong is the first sitting district attorney in the history of North Carolina to be disbarred.

Under North Carolina law, the order took effect 30 days after Mike Nifong received it in writing.

Immediately after the hearing, lawyers for the three players said they would seek to have Mike Nifong held in criminal contempt of court for his false statements.

Hudson said that Mike Nifong should have resigned immediately, saying that defense attorneys could challenge Mike Nifong's authority.

Easley, a former prosecutor and state attorney general, felt that Mike Nifong should have resigned immediately.

However, as mentioned above, Mike Nifong had said he would not appeal.

Mike Nifong was removed from office herself in 2012 for, among other things, making defamatory accusations against Judge Hudson.

The players wanted Mike Nifong to pay for the 60 to 100 hours it took to prove that he misrepresented the DNA evidence.

Mike Nifong was charged with having violated at least a dozen laws, rules and court orders designed to protect defendants' rights by playing "a game of hide and seek" with evidence that could have cleared the players.

Mike Nifong then decried the "fundamental unfairness" with which his disbarment was conducted, contradicting his own lawyer's assertion that Nifong believed disbarment to be an appropriate punishment.

On September 7,2007, after having already been disbarred, Mike Nifong reported to the Durham County jail to serve a one-day jail sentence for contempt of court.

Mike Nifong was held alone in a cell for his protection.

On October 5,2007, Evans, Finnerty, and Seligmann filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Mike Nifong engineered a wide-ranging conspiracy to frame the players.

On January 15,2008, Mike Nifong filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.

However, the Bankruptcy Court ultimately held that Mike Nifong was eligible to be a debtor in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case and granted him a bankruptcy discharge on June 4,2008.

In July 2014 there was a call for all the cases Mike Nifong had prosecuted to be reviewed on the basis of his having been shown to ignore due process in some cases including the murder trial against Darryl Howard, who had been convicted in 1995 of a 1991 murder of a woman and her daughter.

In 2014, Darryl Howard, who at that time had been imprisoned for murder for 20 years, was granted a new trial because Mike Nifong had withheld evidence in the trial that led to his convictions.

Mike Nifong has a daughter from his first marriage and a son with Gurney.