Judge Orders Nifong Removal Effective Immediately

Yesterday, I reported that Mike Nifong said that he would step down as of July 13.

That wasn't fast enough for the judge, who ordered Nifong immediately suspended with pay, and that he would have a sheriff bar Nifong from any further business.

Judge Orlando Hudson filed his order this morning, suspending Nifong with pay. Nifong did not appear to be in his office this morning.

Hudson had announced Monday night that he planned to file the order today. In the document, he said Nifong's conduct had brought the office of district attorney into disrepute.

Nifong had pursued charges against three former Duke lacrosse players after a stripper said she had been raped at a team party in March 2006. The state attorney general this year cleared them of the charges and slammed Nifong's actions in the case.

Hudson, by suspending Nifong with pay, will take a first step in a process that allows Superior Court judges to oust district attorneys, elected officers of the court.

Gov. Mike Easley, who appointed Nifong to fill a vacancy in 2005, said Monday that he would begin looking for a replacement for Nifong.

Beth Brewer, a Durham resident, petitioned Hudson in February to remove Nifong, saying the prosecutor's misconduct stymied justice. "That man should not spend one more minute in office," Brewer said Monday.

Hudson asked Robert Zaytoun, a Wake County lawyer, to help prosecute the case against Nifong. Because the process has been used only one other time in North Carolina — against a New Hanover County district attorney who uttered a racial slur — Hudson said he is uncertain what to expect.

After a five-day disciplinary proceeding that concluded Saturday, Nifong stands guilty of numerous ethics violations and awaits the stripping of his law license. That will happen 30 days after the bar files a written order, which could take several weeks.

The judge has a point. North Carolina law is pretty specific as to what a disbarred lawyer can do and the process must be followed. It still is unjust that Nifong gets paid all through the interim given what he has wrought.

The judge also said that he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into criminal charges against Nifong, but his authority to make a move is not entirely clear.