Mike Nifong again gets off too easy.

Embattled former district attorney Mike Nifong was held in criminal contempt of court and sentenced to one day in jail Friday for his actions in the flawed Duke lacrosse team rape case.

Nifong must report to jail September 7, Superior Court Judge W. Osmond Smith III said.

The judge said Nifong's withholding of DNA evidence from defense attorneys was an affront to the integrity of the judicial system.

The evidence potentially would have cleared the three lacrosse players of sexual assault charges months before North Carolina's attorney general dropped them in April.

The players initially were accused of raping an exotic dancer during a party last year.

The specific evidence Nifong was accused of withholding was that DNA profiles found on the alleged rape victim were from unidentified males, but did not match any of the 46 lacrosse team members.

He also was accused of telling the court in a September 22 hearing that a lab report contained complete information on DNA test results, when it omitted that information.

Given that the entire investigation and prosecution was a travesty, designed to boost Nifong's election campaign rather than achieve justice, a one-day sentence is absurdly short.

Instead, Nifong needs to be imprisoned for the exact length of time each of these young men was forced to bear these false accusations -- with the time to be served consecutively.

Posted by: Greg at 03:27 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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