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Durham’s new district attorney has dismissed the criminal case that triggered a chain of events that led to the removal this month of Tracey Cline from her office as the elected DA.

A whispered conversation captures what propelled Tracey Cline in two decades of putting rapists and murderers behind bars: She was a prosecutor who would not back down from anyone. She acted with fierce conviction when she believed she was right. And she could not admit when she was wrong.

When Tracey Cline first campaigned for the district attorney's office in 2008, she faced questions about the collapse of the high-profilecharges brought against three Duke lacrosse players who were falsely accused of rape by a dancer at an off-campus house.

The News & Observer has won a national journalism award for fairness for its coverage of former Durham District Attorney Tracey E. Cline.

Tracey E. Cline, a prosecutor who crusaded for victims and pledged to always do right, was permanently removed Friday from her office as Durham's elected district attorney after a judge found she made false and reckless attacks on Durham's senior judge, tainting her ability to seek justice.

Saunders:  No need to consult Sister Betty, the borderline psychic, South Raleigh soothsayer, to know that the next Durham County district attorney will be the best the county has seen in more than a decade.

A timeline of Tracey Cline's tenure as Durham's district attorney and the events that led to her removal.

Legal filings by Durham District Attorney Tracey Cline against Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson were central to the inquiry that led to Cline's permanent removal from office Friday.