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Nifong bankruptcy revisited; (note the liabilities column)
Topic Started: Oct 29 2010, 02:28 PM (321 Views)
Quasimodo

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Quasimodo

And the court accepted this (even though there had been no adjudication of any claims, nor any award
of damages, and at the SAME TIME as Nifong was declaring to the court that he had immunity from
such claims, and was innocent anyway?

And Judge Beaty took this seriously and permitted it to delay the proceedings?
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Quasimodo

Quote:
 
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=ABN:US&sid=aAbyndCUaZm8

Disbarred Mike Nifong Opposes Allowing Suit to Proceed

The lawyer for Michael Nifong, the disbarred former district attorney of Durham County, North Carolina, filed papers on April 22 opposing efforts by three former Duke University lacrosse players to win a modification of the so-called automatic stay so they can continue a lawsuit seeking $30 million in damages each.

Admitting that he filed for bankruptcy to move the dispute into bankruptcy court, Nifong said in the papers, ``We can scarcely deny what Stevie Wonder could see.''

Nifong does deny he filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy so he could sign a book deal. Nifong declares he lacks the emotional energy for ``a play, movie, a musical CD, or an opera (the debtor sings in his church choir and plays the guitar).''

Nifong also said he has a homeowners' insurance policy that ``does not remotely cover anything that might be characterized as prosecutorial misconduct.''

The submission to the bankruptcy court in Durham, North Carolina, ends with an allusion to Shakespeare's ``Merchant of Venice,'' in which the lender Shylock twice turns down payment in cash, insisting on a pound of flesh.

Without referring to what happened to the lives of the former lacrosse players, Nifong's filing concludes, ``It is perhaps time for mercy here, and forgiveness, and healing. All these lives must go on.'' Defiantly, he predicts, ``They will never collect so much as $35 from Mike Nifong.''

(snip)

Nifong's bankruptcy case is In re Michael B. Nifong, 08- 80034, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of North Carolina (Durham).
[/b]

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Quasimodo

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINA


IN RE: )


No. 1:08 CV 441
MICHAEL B. NIFONG,

REPLY BRIEF OF DEBTOR/APPELLANT
Debtor


This brief reply is submitted on behalf of the debtor, Michael B. Nifong,
in response to the September 15, 2008 brief of the three appellees, and
pursuant to the order of July 15, 2008.

(snip)

The three plaintiffs
however, innocent though they may be, are guilty of attempting to show that
whichever line of case law this Court follows, they win. Their method of attack
is a most tortured analysis of the line of cases we rely on, coupled with their
customary righteous indignation we have become accustomed to since this
case began, with adjectival surplus.
As Judge Stocks indicated, it is not an
open and shut proposition. We have recognized that from the outset and this
Court should not be misled into thinking otherwise.

In their Statement of the Case section the three plaintiffs assume as
proven fact that Mike Nifong and others conspired together and caused these
three young men to be arrested, indicted, and publicly vilified on false charges
of rape, sexual assault, and kidnapping.
This is not the issue on this appeal,
nor is it accepted fact. It is simply legal hyperbole, not unlike that of the late
Spot Mozingo of Darlington, South Carolina, who is said to have begun an oral
argument in the Fourth Circuit in these words:

May it please the Court. That my client is a

paraplegic and his wife is in an insane asylum

has nothing to do with the merits of this case.


Similarly the lurid details of the Duke lacrosse case has little if anything to do
with the merits of this appeal.

Another distracting argument made by the three young men here concerns
the Nifong homeowners’ policies, that “Nifong has yet to produce sufficient
documentation to establish whether or not these policies would cover the
misconduct of issue.” Their counsel have been provided all the information
they need to answer that question. And, if they truly believe that a garden
variety homeowners’ policy would cover official acts of an elected District
Attorney, their faith in the insurance industry of this country is sadly
misplaced. Then there is also the irrelevant citation of the Fox News report of
the Crystal Mangum book.

(snip)

Both sides have made much of the allegations, which we believe specious,
that the three young men have suffered personal bodily injury. Those
allegations of course have yet to be tested, whether by Rule 11 inquiry or hard
evidence. It his however remarkable that with all that has been written and
said about this case, no hint of such bodily injury appeared until the complaint
filed here. Will radiologists be needed as witnesses?

CONCLUSION

In argument in the Bankruptcy Court, and to an extent in their brief here,
counsel for the three young men have disclaimed interest in money. What they
seek from Mike Nifong, we are told, is accountability. They forget, or choose to
ignore, that Mike Nifong has been removed from office, has been disbarred, and
was a 24 hour guest at the Durham County Jail. Yet now they want him held
accountable? They already have all they will ever get from him, and if they
don’t understand that, their counsel do.


We happily rest on the above, and on our earlier brief. The Court must
decide which of the two competing line of cases to follow here, but it must not
be misled into thinking for a moment that it is open and shut. And of course

the matter is unlikely to end here, as surely whichever side does not prevail will
proceed on to Richmond.

We respectfully urge the Court to reverse the May 27, 2008 decision of the

Bankruptcy Court and remand the case.

Respectfully submitted,



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