Duke lacrosse - the case drifts away

With state bar ethics charges looming, Durham DA Mike Nifong may recuse himself from the weakening Duke lacrosse case. The rape charge is gone - will kidnapping and assault charges also vanish?

Emily Bazelon of Slate sums it up:

There is so much else wrong with this case—Nifong's withholding of the DNA test results from defense lawyers for months, his statements on the stand that he didn't know about the results when it's now clear that he did, the all-lacrosse-player photo lineup that the victim looked at when she identified her three alleged assailants. These are all reasons for Nifong to do himself a favor, as well as the former Duke students, by tossing this case.

Instead, he says he can't because of the woman he calls "my victim."
As long as she says she's sure that these men hurt her, Nifong is saying, he's prepared to believe her, and that means a jury may, too. So, it's up to her. But this sort of stubbornness is just as misguided, in its own away, as that of the prosecutor who refuses to investigate a rape charge because he can't take a woman's accusations seriously. "You can't make everybody back away from a fight," Nifong says. Well, actually, if you're the prosecutor, you can. In fact, it's your job.

Or someone else's job if Nifong continues down this path.