Darryl Howard and the rampaging prosecutor: Durham learns little from Duke lacrosse debacle

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4. Judges Overturns Howard Verdict, Citing Nifong's "False and Misleading" Statements

Judges Overturns Howard Verdict, Citing Nifong's "False and Misleading" Statements

Radley Balko reports that Durham judge Orlando Hudson has overturned the conviction of Darryl Howard, citing police and prosecutorial misconduct. (The prosecutor in the case was then-ADA Mike Nifong.) Howard will now receive a new trial. Given the paucity of actual evidence against Howard, hopefully the state will drop the case.

Balko covers the ruling in greater detail; and I’ve previously written about the case also. The thrust: much like the lacrosse case, Nifong reacted to a negative DNA test result not by wondering whether he was trying the wrong party, but instead by suggesting that the DNA evidence was irrelevant to the case. In the lacrosse case, Nifong behaved unethically by withholding exculpatory test results from the defense and lying about them to a judge. In the Howard case, he behaved unethically by misleading the court about the state’s original theory of the crime once that theory became inconsistent with DNA test results showing that the DNA of two unidentified men--but not Howard--was found in the two murder victims.

In his ruling, Hudson is unsparing in his criticism of Nifong. In comments about Nifong, the judge began by taking notice of the fact that more than a decade after the Howard case, Nifong would be disbarred and held in criminal contempt for “suppressing exculpatory evidence and willfully making false statements” to Judge Smith in the lacrosse case.

N.C. judge overturns Darryl Howard conviction, finds prosecutor misconduct by Mike Nifong

By Radley Balko May 27 at 2:59 pmMore

In March, I posted a long report on the Darryl Howard case. There’s a lot to this story, but here’s a quick and dirty summary: Howard was convicted in 1995 for murdering a woman and her 13-year-old daughter in a Durham public housing complex. Despite evidence that both women had been sexually assaulted, there was no physical evidence linking Howard to the crime scene. In post-conviction, Howard’s attorneys discovered a police memo describing a tip indicating that the murders were the work of a gang called the New York Boys. The tip seemed particularly reliable because it referred to the fact that the women had been raped, a piece of information that wasn’t public.

The memo was found in both the police file and the file of District Attorney Mike Nifong. But there’s no evidence it was ever turned over to the defense. When DNA testing of sperm found in the daughter excluded Howard, Nifong proceeded with the case as if the sexual assaults weren’t part of the crime.

In an opinion released today, North Carolina Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson overturned Howard’s conviction. Hudson’s decision finds for the defense on every major claim. It’s a resounding repudiation of the way Nifong handled Howard’s trial.