It was a crazy day, I also bought an ab-blaster

North Carolina DA Mike Nifong says he, "maybe got carried away a little bit" discussing the case of three Duke lacrosse players accused of raping a African American stripper.

Yes, maybe a touch carried away in torching the lives of three Duke students, their coach (resigned), and an entire sports program (suspended for the rest of the 2006 season).

Just reading some of Nifong's quotes for the Fox article in the last link.

"The circumstances of the rape indicated a deep racial motivation for some of the things that were done," Nifong said. "It makes a crime that is by its nature one of the most offensive and invasive even more so."

And,

"I needed to have the information about who will be charged," said District Attorney Mike Nifong said. "I feel pretty confident that a rape occurred."

Odd, with Mr Nifong's amazing gut, that all three students were cleared.

So now Mr Nifong may lose his lawyer license. Among the comments cited was this gem where he said "he wouldn't allow Durham to become known for 'a bunch of lacrosse players from Duke raping a black girl.'" That's at least somewhat ironic now, given all the media surrounding both the initial incident, and the current media all surrounding the fact that in Durham, a bunch of lacrosse players were incorrectly charged with raping a black girl by an out of control DA. Duke is now as much known for this incident as anything else. Congratulations Mr Nifong. Rarely have I ever witnessed such a complete failure in any endeavor. Just a loss across the board. Wow.

I really haven't been following any of this, but if the only thing Mr Nifong loses is his license to practice law...well that feels like a crime.

I know this will muddy the picture, but I have to point out that if any of these players were foreigners accused of anything having to do with terrorism, they would have not had the right of habeas corpus, the right to an attorney, the right to see the evidence against them (including the flawed DNA evidence), nor any type of jury by peers in front of a judge, and the rest of the tools and protections that freed these boys. The woman's accusation and Mr Nifong's gut would be more than enough to keep them locked up forever.

UPDATE: Nifong announced his surprise resignation today.