Mr. Jones and Me

In a December 7th letter released with Joe Neff's piece in this afternoon's on-line Raleigh News & Observer, North Carolina Third District U.S. Representative Walter B. Jones (R) has requested that U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales launch an investigation into D.A. Mike Nifong's prosecution of the Hoax to

"...determine if it constitutes prosecutorial misconduct and has denied these students their civil rights as U.S. citizens under federal law."

Over the past several months, many of my constituents and a growing number of mainstream media outlets have raised serious questions about the accuser’s allegations and Mr. Nifong’s prosecution," Jones wrote. Jones highlighted two particular issues which have been brought to his attention:

"First, Mr. Nifong directed the Durham Police Department to knowingly violate suspect identification procedures for police personnel in North Carolina," Jones continued. "These procedures require that during any suspect identification process, a suspect’s photo must be shown with those of non-suspects. Mr. Nifong not only directed that this not be done, he also directed the police to tell the accuser that she would only view photos of Duke lacrosse athletes who were at the party. By doing so, Mr. Nifong ensured that the accuser could not make a mistake no matter who she identified because she would inevitably identify Duke athletes."

"Second, throughout the investigation Mr. Nifong repeatedly made prejudicial statements to the media. His statements clearly violate the North Carolina Rules of Professional Conduct which prohibit a prosecutor in a criminal case from making extrajudicial statements that ‘heighten public condemnation of the accused’ or, if disseminated via public communication, have the ‘substantial likelihood’ of prejudicing the proceeding," Jones wrote. "Mr. Nifong’s statements ranged from labeling the Duke players "hooligans" to falsely stating that they refused to cooperate with his investigation. Mr. Nifong also continually proclaimed his personal opinion that a sexual attack had occurred and that he believed the accuser. Furthermore, what is perhaps most concerning is Mr. Nifong’s public admission and representation in court that he’s never had the accuser tell him what she alleges occurred that night; Mr. Nifong has stated it was unnecessary to hear her version."

"Mr. Attorney General, many of my constituents have expressed concern to me that the facts outlined in this letter are indicative of prosecutorial misconduct. I urge you to look into these matters to ensure that Mr. Nifong’s actions have not illegally denied the accused of their civil rights as American citizens," Jones concluded. "After all, if the American people cannot trust those who they’ve empowered to pursue justice fairly, then hope for this democracy is lost."

In other news, Cash Michaels is still a buffoon, and "Poetic Justice" remains an ignorant racist.

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Added 5:14 ET:

Quasimodo has posted a list of NC Senators and Congressional Representatives, with their fax numbers and e-mail accessibility, at the Liestoppers message board. He has also supplied a simple letter that may be cut and pasted for easy transmittal to all NC congressional officials, and your own.

Do it!