Getting a bit more testy up in Durham
An attorney representing a Duke University lacrosse player accused of rape demanded the district attorney’s removal from the case Monday and accused him of using it to help his election prospects.
District Attorney Mike Nifong faces a primary election Tuesday that could decide whether he remains in office. He has denied any political motivation behind his aggressive investigation.
A public official playing political games? Na, couldn’t happen.
In one of several motions filed Monday, defense attorney Kirk Osborn, who represents indicted lacrosse player Reade Seligmann, wrote of Nifong: “He created an actual conflict between his professional duty to search for the truth and his personal, vested interest in getting elected.”
Osborn also asked the court to throw out the photo identifications made by the accuser, a 27-year-old student at a nearby university who had been hired to strip at a March 13 lacrosse team party, where she says she was beaten and raped.
He called the police photo lineup “unnecessarily suggestive and conducive to irreparable mistake and misidentification” because the accuser was only shown photos of lacrosse players. Osborn said Nifong was improperly involved in the lineup and led police to violate their own policies.
You cannot expect Nifong to follow the law, now, can you?
Similar to a certain prosecutor in Texas. Maybe he will change his song if not re-elected.