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Mike Nifong

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Attorney

The Resume

    (September 14, 1950- )
    Born in Wilmington, North Carolina
    District Attorney of Durham County, North Carolina (2005-7)
    Best known for prosecuting three members of the Duke University lacrosse team on rape charges
    Charged with ethics violations by the North Carolina State Bar

Why he might be annoying:

    A courtroom co-worker said, 'He would curse you, scream at you, call you names over nothing.'
    When he was appointed DA, he promised not to run for another term; he ran for the office anyway in 2006.
    Governor Mike Easley called him 'the poorest appointment' he ever made.
    According to a former campaign manager, his sole motive for running for election was to add four years to his service and thereby increase his pension by $15,000 a year.
    He proceeded full bore with the Duke lacrosse case despite repeated changes in the accuser's story and despite DNA tests showing that semen found on the accuser did not match any of the players.
    He withheld the exculpatory DNA evidence from the first report given to the defense.
    He did not drop charges against Reade Seligmann even after the accuser changed her story yet again to say he was not involved in the alleged attack.
    He gave 50 interviews with the national media about the case.
    He called the lacrosse players 'a bunch of hooligans' whose 'daddies could buy them expensive lawyers.'
    When the State Attorney General dismissed charges against the lacrosse players (April 11, 2007), he called them victims of 'a tragic rush to accuse' by a 'rogue prosecutor.'
    The North Carolina bar charged him with 'conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit and misrepresentation.'
    The investigating panel concluded he had broken state rules of professional conduct more than two dozen times.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He asked the State Attorney General to assume responsibility for the case (January 12, 2007), paving the way for the lacrosse players being declared innocent.
    He said he would resign as District Attorney regardless of the results of his ethics hearing (June 15, 2007).
    He said, 'To the extent that I made judgments that ultimately proved to be incorrect, I apologize to the three students that were wrongly accused.'
    This half-hearted apology is still more than was offered by accusers such as Jesse Jackson, Nancy Grace and most of the 'Group of 88' Duke faculty members.
    He was disbarred (June 16, 2007) and can no longer practice law.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 16 Votes: 68.75% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 166 Votes: 59.64% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 604 Votes: 82.62% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 15 Votes: 73.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 69.23% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 41 Votes: 63.41% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 45 Votes: 77.78% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 199 Votes: 84.42% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 146 Votes: 69.86% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 54 Votes: 74.07% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 117 Votes: 78.63% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 218 Votes: 76.15% Annoying