Michael Byron "Mike" Nifong is a former North Carolina attorney. He was the district attorney for Durham County, North Carolina (the state's 14th Prosecutorial District) but was removed and disbarred due to court findings concerning his conduct in the 2006 Duke University lacrosse case.

Career

After a year as a per diem assistant DA with the Durham County DA's office, he was hired on a full-time basis in 1979. He eventually worked his way up to chief assistant. After District Attorney Jim Hardin was appointed to a Superior Court vacancy in 2005, Governor Mike Easley appointed Nifong to fill out the remainder of Hardin's term. Nifong was sworn in on April 27, 2005.

Prior to the most intense criticism of his handling of the case (see below), Nifong won the Democratic primary on May 2, 2006.[6] Many critics have argued that Nifong brought the Duke case forward simply to win a tough reelection fight against two opponents in Durham, a city with a sizable Black community.

With no Republican Party candidate running for office, Nifong was a shoo-in to win in the November general election. However, growing awareness of the scandal prompted supporters to petition to add Lewis Cheek and Steve Monks to the ballot. Lewis Cheek was successful in his bid but quickly announced that he would not campaign or serve if elected. Monks, a Republican, was not successful in his bid but decided to run as a write-in candidate.

Nifong won the general election in November 2006, receiving 49% of the votes, while Durham lawyer and Democrat Lewis Cheek received 40% even though he said he would not serve if elected,[8] and Republican Party Chairman Steve Monks got 11% as a write-in candidate.

References

Mike Nifong, wikipedia.org​