NIFONG DISBARRED - JAIL NEXT?

Back on April 22, the Punditarian discussed "Honor at Duke & in Durham," and made the following observations about Mike Nifong:

The prosecutor, Mike Nifong, is a thoroughly dishonorable fellow. You can't blame him, really, for seizing his main chance and perverting every principle of prosecutorial ethics, because he only did it for personal gain. He was acquainted with Crystal Mangum and her family from a previous case, and seized upon her accusations just when the Durham Police were about to conclude, based on pending DNA evidence, that there was nothing to do. Nifong was motivated primarily by ambition and greed. He is honestly corrupt, and didn't see anything wrong in destroying 3 innocent lives so that he could portray himself as the champion of the poor, the downtrodden, and the African-American, thus positioning himself to garner the slim margin he needed in order to be elected District Attorney and magnify his pension. To achieve his goal, Nifong set up improper and irregular interviews with the accuser, pilloried his 3 innocent victims in biased and misleading press briefings, and concealed and misrepresented critical DNA evidence. The North Carolina State Bar Association's brief against him is entirely damning, and the State Attorney General's dismissal of all charges against the Lacrosse players, and his characterization of Nifong's zealous prosecution, used unprecedented language in lambasting Nifong for being just the sort of scoundrel he is. At a minimum, he will be disbarred for life. His conduct in this case was so outrageous that he is probably also liable for civil damages. I would not be surprised if he ends up behind bars, as well.

(Emphasis in brick red added.) Today the North Carolina State Bar Association found that Mike Nifong was guilty of every particular with which the ethics committee had charged him, and determined that nothing less than disbarment for life would suffice. He agreed to accept disbarment, and waived his right to appeal.

There are two other shoes to drop: whether the three young men whose lives he very nearly ruined will press for civil damages, and whether the State of North Carolina will now prosecute him for his egregious disregard of the law. At the moment, both of those avenues seem almost foregone conclusions.

UPDATE: CNN reports that lawyers who represented the student athletes will indeed press for criminal charges against Mike Nifong:

After the hearing, attorneys for the exonerated lacrosse players said they would push for criminal charges against Nifong.

"I don't think that any of us are done with Mr. Nifong yet," said Jim Cooney, Seligmann's attorney.

No surprise there, when you consider that the State Bar upheld charges of "dishonesty, fraud, deceit, and misrepresentation."

UPDATE: I should have mentioned an excellent April 12 post by LMC, here.

UPDATE: Over at American Thinker, Russ Vaughn emphasizes the gravity of Mike Nifong's crimes:

This despicable career government employee seized upon a completely selfish, self-serving opportunity to heighten racial tensions in our nation so that he could get elected to a minor office and get a good civil service pension. In a disunited country at war, ridden with racial problems, he pandered to invidious racial stereotypes to drive a wedge between the races in America. In a national psyche desperately trying to heal old racial wounds, he ripped open a scab, enflaming the social tissue, igniting blacks with outrage over rich, privileged, young white boys allegedly gang raping a struggling young black woman. Cynically, he pursued prosecution of these young men in the face of overwhelming exculpatory DNA evidence, which he criminally concealed from their defense attorneys to get himself through an election and obtain a good civil service pension.

Couldn't be said better, Mr Vaughn. Emphasis added. May I add, "fiat justitia, ruat caelum!"