DURHAM – The words of Durham’s top prosecutor were used against her Monday during a special judicial inquiry to determine whether her actions have brought disrepute to her office.

District Attorney Tracey Cline was suspended last month based on unfounded accusations of misconduct she had lodged against Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson. Cline was trying to have Hudson removed from overseeing matters involving her office after the judge ruled against her in a series of high-profile cases.

In hundreds of pages of court filings, Cline alleged the county’s senior criminal judge was part of a wide-ranging conspiracy of defense lawyers, court personnel and a news reporter that colluded to create “media mayhem” and make her appear incompetent.

“Victims of decade old crimes are being emotionally and repeatedly raped by this court’s rulings,” Cline wrote of Hudson, whom she accused of “kidnapping the rights of victims and their families, holding these rights for hostage.”

“Such conduct will rot the justice system at its core,” Cline said. “His Order’s speak Truth to the Twisted Tales that is Gross Misconduct.”

As proof of her allegations, Cline submitted an order from the judge that appeared to have been time-stamped by the clerk of court hours before Cline had completed the presentation of her evidence, suggesting a biased Hudson had made up his mind without hearing the evidence.

She also had a string of e-mails between a defense lawyer and a reporter for The News & Observer, at least one of which was copied to Judge Hudson’s clerk. The Raleigh newspaper has published a series of articles using court records and transcripts to show that Cline withheld exculpatory evidence from defendants and made factual misrepresentations in arguments and legal filings.

A judge who reviewed Cline’s accusations against Hudson in December determined they were without merit.

At Monday’s hearing, Durham lawyer Kerry Sutton, who filed the complaint seeking to have Cline removed from office, called the deputy clerk to the stand who had time stamped the judicial order from August that was at issue. The machine was malfunctioning that week, the clerk testified.

Sutton suggested that Cline’s jumping to the conclusion that Hudson had written the order earlier than he had, and not bothering to check whether the time-stamp was accurate, showed a pattern of behavior.

“The only thing that got her started on this tangent is that the time clock was wrong,” Sutton said.

If Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood finds Cline has brought her elected office into disrepute and undermined the public confidence in the justice system, he can permanently remove her.

Such a special inquiry has been held only once before in North Carolina — nearly 20 years ago, after a New Hanover County DA was accused of using an ethnic slur. Cline’s inquiry is expected to resume Friday, when her attorney is expected to present evidence in her defense.

At past hearings, Cline has taken her usual place at the prosecution table. For the first time Monday, she sat on the right at the defense table, surrounded by a team of out-of-town lawyers. Cline had asked for a delay after she reported having trouble finding a local attorney who would agree to defend her.

Typically verbose, Cline sat silently and scribbled notes as Sutton called other lawyers to the witness stand to testify about the damage she had done to the reputation of a district attorney’s office already tarnished by scandal. Cline’s former boss, Mike Nifong, was forced to resign as DA in 2007 and was disbarred over his pursuit of charges against three members of the Duke University lacrosse team who were falsely accused of raping a female adult entertainer.

Thomas Maher, director of the N.C. Office of Indigent Defense Services, testified that Cline’s voluminous filings against Judge Hudson were highly unusual in both their tone and content.

“People who had worked in the court system for years had never seen anything like this,” Maher said of Cline’s motions. “They were very inflammatory accusations made against the judge and the court system as a whole because these were accusations of a conspiracy.”

Staples Hughes, director of the N.C. Office of Appellate Defender, testified that Cline’s reputation had been brought into disrepute.

“I do not, after reading that pleading, trust Ms. Cline’s judgment,” Hughes said. “It totally undercuts her credibility.”

David Ball, a jury and trial consultant with more than 20 years of experience, testified that Cline had initiated a public war with Hudson that could do damage to both parties in the minds of potential jurors.

“We want the DA’s office to be seen as impeccable,” said Ball, a Durham resident. “It is not here. If you undermine the confidence in the DA’s office, it’s going to be difficult for the DA to win just convictions.”