Review clears Durham judge of wrongdoing alleged by former DA

Cline lost her job in March after she repeatedly accused Judge Orlando Hudson of being corrupt and biased against her and asked to have him barred from handling criminal cases in Durham County.

In the lengthy motions, she said Hudson had "the reprobate mind of a monarch," said his conduct involved "moral turpitude, dishonesty and corruption," that his actions "raped" crime victims and "kidnapped the rights of victims and their families" and that his only goal was "to demean the district attorney at all costs."

Other Superior Court judges found her complaints to be groundless, and Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood ruled after a four-day hearing that the allegations had damaged the Durham County justice system and ordered Cline removed from office.

Before she was ousted, Cline filed a complaint against Hudson with the Judicial Standards Commission. The panel recently notified Hudson that the file had been closed, determining that there was no reason to believe he had committed any ethical violations.

"The investigation was thorough and fair," Hudson said Tuesday.

The North Carolina State Bar is pursuing a disciplinary hearing against Cline for her comments. The State Bar alleges that she committed five violations of rules requiring lawyers to be honest and trustworthy.

The hearing had been scheduled for early October, but it is now on hold until the state Court of Appeals rules on her dismissal.

She has called her removal hearing arbitrary and without any direction to help her prepare to keep her job, and she also is appealing Hobgood's decision to deny her request for the state to help pay her legal bills.