State representative to call for Mike Nifong's resignation on Fox News

Bob Shiles:

State Rep. Stephen LaRoque is expected to appear tonight on Fox News channel’s “On the Record,” with Greta Van Susteren.

This is LaRoque’s second appearance on the show within a week to discuss Durham County District Attorney Mike Nifong and his handling of the Duke lacrosse rape case. He contends that Nifong should be investigated for possible prosecutorial misconduct, and that North Carolina law should be changed so that the state — not the N.C. State Bar Association or a superior court judge — is responsible for investigating charges of malfeasance by county district attorneys.

“I’m going to ask that Mike Nifong resign his position as district attorney, not just for the good of Durham County, but for the good of all North Carolina,” LaRoque said. “This has become a universal issue and has put North Carolina in a bad light.”

LaRoque, who represents the 10th House District, is calling for state legislators to enact a law allowing the state attorney general to investigate and criminally prosecute any district attorney who willingly commits prosecutorial misconduct. In Nifong’s case, LaRoque said, he allegedly withheld results of DNA laboratory tests that would have showed the innocence of three lacrosse players accused of raping an exotic dancer last spring at an off campus party.

“What he did was clearly for political gain and unconscionable,” LaRoque said. “What he did will have an effect on these young men for the rest of their lives.”

Nifong was running for the Durham County Democratic Party’s nomination for district attorney during the early stages of the rape investigation. The alleged victim’s accusations of rape by thee lacrosse players during the off-campus party brought national attention to Nifong and his department. He won his nomination, and went on to eventually win the November general election.

LaRoque noted that since his Dec. 20 appearance on Fox News he has received e-mails from as far away as California and Australia.

“This is not just a state issue, but an issue that is important nationally and internationally,” he said.

Although he lost his re-election bid in November and will not be going back to Raleigh when the General Assembly convenes next month, LaRoque says he is currently lobbying legislators to pass a tough law that will make district attorneys think twice before willingly committing prosecutorial misconduct.

“There are 170 legislators that have been silent on this issue,’ LaRoque said. “It’s time for someone to stand up and say there’s something wrong here. Something needs to be done to ensure the integrity of our judicial system.”

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