University of North Carolina School of Law Carolina Law Scholarship Repository Faculty Publications Faculty Scholarship 2008 Exculpatory Evidence, Ethics, and the Road to the Disbarment of Mike Nifong: The rC itical Importance of Full Open-File Discovery Robert P. Mosteller University of North Carolina School of Law,
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[email protected]. 2008] 257 EXCULPATORY EVIDENCE, ETHICS, AND THE ROAD TO THE DISBARMENT OF MIKE NIFONG: THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF FULL OPEN-FILE DISCOVERY * Robert P. Mosteller INTRODUCTION What has come to be known as the Duke Lacrosse case began in the spring of 2006 with allegations of a racially motivated gang rape. It ended a little more than a year later with the exoneration of three players, who had been indicted, and the disbarment and resignation of Durham County Dis- trict Attorney Michael Nifong, who had pressed the baseless case forward with reckless abandon. In this Article, I examine the disciplinary charges brought by the North Carolina State Bar against Nifong for failure to dis- close potentially exculpatory evidence, two other disciplinary actions that preceded Nifong’s case, and the discovery reforms that stand at the heart of the effort to do justice in the associated criminal prosecutions.