The Durham NC Legal Circus Is Back In Business

An extraordinary legal shouting match has broken out in Durham, N.C., between the county’s beleaguered local district attorney and its senior Superior Court judge, who has chastised the D.A. in open court.

In a harshly worded court filing, Durham Dist. Atty. Tracey Cline accused Judge Orlando F. Hudson Jr. of "moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption" and complained that the judge "harbors animosity" toward her and has engaged in "retaliatory conduct" and "gross misconduct."

Court filings are typically written in dry, obtuse legal argot. But Cline’s filing contains unusually accusatory and vituperative language replete with fractured syntax and spelling errors. She wrote that Hudson’s actions "striped away" her rights, and that credibility of the criminal justice system is a "causality" of Hudson’s conduct. She described Hudson’s behavior as "without responsibility or conscious."

Saying crime victims have been "emotionally and relentlessly repeatedly raped" by the judge’s rulings, Cline said she will attempt to have Hudson removed from overseeing criminal cases. She also wrote that she has filed a misconduct complaint against Hudson with the state commission that oversees judges.

Cline's filing, submitted late Thursday, accuses Hudson of "intentional and malicious acts with GROSS UNCONCERN for this conduct and done in BAD FAITH."

Read the rest here.

The current DA in Durham was a top aid to Mike Nifong who was disbarred for trying to railroad three Duke University Lacrosse players on trumped up gang rape charges. I blogged rather extensively on this subject back in 2006 and very early on expressed doubts about the case.