Former Durham DA wants taxpayer funds for appeal

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Lawyers for a former prosecutor stripped of her job for conduct that raised public doubts about fair justice want North Carolina taxpayers to pay her legal bills as she fights to reclaim her job.

The lawyers for former Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline asked the state Supreme Court to order the spending. Lower courts have refused to order the funds.

The director of the courts system says nothing in state law authorizes public funds for attorneys in non-criminal cases. Cline was removed after a civil case.

Cline was removed from office in March after a different judge decided that the challenges she filed against Durham Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson were false and malicious.

The North Carolina Judicial Standards Commission cleared Hudson of allegations raised by Cline.

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