Attorneys for suspended Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline are scheduled to appear at 3 p.m. today to ask a superior court judge for more time to prepare for a hearing that could result in her removal from office. A Durham defense attorney filed a petition with the courts last month that Cline lose her job because her conduct in a highly publicized conflict with Judge Orlando Hudson has brought the court system into disrepute.
Because she was recovering from pneumonia, and because of the nature of the case, Cline was unable to secure a lawyer to represent her, she said in a hearing Monday. That day, Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood granted Cline a delay until Feb. 20.
Two days later, Cline hired a group of attorneys from the Pinehurst firm Van Camp, Meacham & Newman, according to court filings (PDF). Those attorneys now seek to delay the hearing further, since they just got the case Feb. 15.
Because of the gravity of the accusations and the fact that Cline could lose her job, “Ms. Cline effectively must be afforded every opportunity and reasonable allowance of time to prepare an adequate presentation of her merits and the case,” her attorneys wrote in their request for more time.
Under state statute, the judge has the authority to delay the hearing until March 1, according to the request.
