What Were They Thinking?: Crisis Communication: The Good, the Bad, and the Totally Clueless

The Duke “Rape” Case: A Rush to Injustice

By all accounts, Durham County North Carolina District Attorney Michael Nifong was a media neophyte who was politically desperate to win voter approval in his 2006 reelection campaign . So when a black stripper claimed that she was raped by a group of well-to-do white Duke University lacrosse players in March 2006 at a team party, Nifong pounced. He smelled an irresistable opportunity for a publicity-hungry politician in the middle of a tough campaign. Pandering to the Public and the Press At a candidate forum during the controversy, Nifong (whose constituency included a significant African American voting bloc) boldly proclaimed that he would never allow Durham to become the county in North Carolina infamous for a “bunch of hooligans . . . raping a black girl.” But let’s go back, to earlier in this story. Nifong had never been elected to the D.A. post. He had been appointed in 2005 and was now in a tough primary. He needed an issue—a cause—a way to graphically demonstrate that he was a crusading , progressive prosecutor that black voters could count on to stand up for them. The stripper—who would change her District Attorney Michael Nifong thought he could play fast and loose with the facts and, along with the Duke administration, pandered to what he perceived to be public opinion. What were they thinking?. Don’t jump to judgment or manipulate the truth. The Lesson. 196 The Duke “Rape” Case A RUSH TO INJUSTICE Adubato_final_book 5/20/08 4:32 PM Page 196 account of what happened at that lacrosse party on several occasions , gave Nifong what he thought he was looking for. Nifong boldly courted the local and national media that had descended on Durham County to cover a case with all the elements of a salacious and white-hot news story. The media fell in step, with pronouncements such as “Black Stripper Raped by White Jocks from Elite Southern School.” This was a headline writer’s dream and great fodder for 24/7 cable news outlets. On paper it looked like a case of a woman— a black woman—taking a job as an exotic dancer, struggling to get by, who was victimized by a group of privileged white jocks just because they felt entitled. Mike Nifong saw an opportunity to use the media to pander to his constituents and apparently never considered his occupational and ethical guidelines, nor the consequences. Soon it became clear that D.A. Nifong had a case that was based on seriously faulty evidence, but that didn’t stop him from continuing his crusade against the Duke lacrosse players. He ignored evidence; he hid evidence; he withheld evidence. He failed to turn over critically important DNA test results that “identified genetic matter from several young men—but no members of the lacrosse team—in the accuser’s underwear and body.”1 That evidence clearly indicated that the three Duke men who were charged with rape—Collin Finnerty of Garden City, Long Island; Reade Seligmann of Essex Fells, New Jersey; and David Evans of Bethesda, Maryland—were not guilty. Nifong also ignored the pleas of Reade Seligmann and his attorneys, who tried to present evidence that Seligmann was nowhere near the lacrosse party when the alleged assault took place. Nifong also withheld critical evidence from the defendants and their lawyers that he knew he was legally and ethically bound to disclose. Mike Nifong did these and other disgraceful things while holding countless press conferences and appearing THE DUKE “RAPE” CASE 197 Adubato_final_book 5/20/08 4:32 PM Page 197 in numerous media interviews railing against the Duke defendants and clearly getting well ahead of, and in fact contradicting, the evidence he had access to. Because of Nifong’s aggressive and reckless prosecution of the Duke lacrosse players, the national media attention grew. In fact, I was asked to do media commentary on Court TV analyzing the implications of the D.A.’s manipulating and misusing the power of the media to prosecute a case before the general public , particularly one so volatile because of its connection to race and class and the violent nature of the allegations involved. But Court TV was only one network focusing on the Duke case. Every major news organization, from ABC, CBS, and NBC, as well as the FOX News Channel, MSNBC, and CNN, was all over it. It was a naturally...