Columnist Jamala-Rogers
The news of Mike Nifong’s disbarring was bittersweet. Nifong was the prosecutor in the racially explosive Duke Lacrosse rape case. State Attorney General Roy Cooper called Nifong a “rogue” prosecutor.
The resounding message in the Nifong case is that you don’t mess with rich, white kids.
Nifong’s quivering lips and tear-swelled eyes were wasted in the courtroom. His adversaries resolutely announced we ain’t “done with Mr. Nifong yet.” After the dust finally settles, the carcass of Mike Nifong will be all that’s left – a gruesome reminder of what will happen when you forget who are supposed to be the targets of a find-guilty-by-any-means-necessary policy.
Since there are many rogue prosecutors around the country, this represented one of the few times that one is going to be punished for his so-called unethical and illegal practices. So far, I have found no such proceedings ever to have taken place in Missouri.
Pre-trial inflammatory remarks about the defendants, withholding evidence, lying to a judge and constitutional violations are the same unofficial practices by district attorney offices when it comes to prosecuting people of color or poor folks.
Closer to home, far too many families have experienced the prosecutorial misconduct of the St. Louis and St. Louis County prosecuting offices.
In a report by the Center for Public Integrity, Missouri is a stand-out state when it comes to prosecutorial abuse. The center found that since 1970, there were 129 rulings of such abuse. Forty-five resulted in reversals or acquittals, while the remaining 71 rulings found plenty of problems but were still upheld by judges. These rulings don’t represent the full scope of wrong doings – only the ones that could be readily uncovered.
Nels Moss stands high above his judicial peers when it comes to despicable, blatant and self-serving abuse. Moss prosecuted such high-profile cases as the Chain of Rocks Bridge case and the Larry Johnson wrongful conviction of rape. Johnson later became Missouri’s first DNA-exonerated convict.
Moss’ Frankenstein-like evolution lies in the culture of the prosecutor’s office. He spent 33 years as an assistant prosecutor, never fearing disbarment because the majority who suffered his prosecutorial wrath was African-American. He flourished under the tutelage of Circuit Attorney George Peach. Dee Joyce Hayes inherited Moss (also her opponent in the circuit attorney’s race) and wanted to fire him. When interviewed by the Center for Public Integrity, she stated that one of the reasons she felt forced to retain Moss was to refrain from alienating certain St. Louis powerbrokers who admired Moss.
Current Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce must fear the same powerbrokers. Her office has been sitting on the investigation into the wrongful execution of Reginald Griffin on June 21, 1995. Gordon Ankney, another rogue prosecutor under Peach, gift-wrapped a fact-flawed case to the jury.
Almost two years ago, the Michigan University Law School and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund handed over to Joyce their investigation report concluding that Griffin was innocent of the murder of Quintin Moss. It was the first time in U.S. judicial history that an execution would be re-opened by a prosecuting attorney. Hope is dimming that true justice will prevail.
Some believe Joyce is holding back on announcing her office’s results until her re-election campaign is in full swing. Others believe the office doesn’t know how the announcement Missouri did indeed kill an innocent man will play out. Some believe that the re-investigation will simply die on the prosecuting table.
The Duke Lacrosse and the Griffin cases affirm the two-tiered system of justice in this country. The unfair system is powered by the gas tank of race octane and oiled by those with money. It is a system in desperate need of deep transformation on all levels, changes that must be led by fair-minded judges and attorneys and that engage communities of conscience.