He tried a gag order already, which means he's still trying to operate in the dark; but it didn't work.
Those days are over.
From now on, everything he does will be exposed in full spotlight.
I think it safe to assume the Durham Judges read the paper.
If you read the hearing transcripts, it was apparent Stephens knew about things he had no reason to know about yet. Just one example - Stephens says at the first setting to Nifong. I understand the phones are owned by a third party. Nifong indicates that he's doesn't know for sure that that's the case. Makes you wonder how Stephens knows more than the DA - supposedly.
Back to Titus, they can play dumb and plead ignorance, but there's not a person breathing that doesn't know that all the Durham Judges read the article by Neff in the N&O.
I think they know MUCH more, but we can all probably agree that they know what Neff reported on.
If I was a Judge and I knew things had been misrepresented. The DA had made many false statements in public, and shifted his position and the test results came in, etc. - I would proceed very carefully and want to distance myself from the prosecutor and be vigilant in regard to the rights of the accused. We'll see, but I think it would only be natural for the Judge to be cautious and wary.
I think CondorFlight is correct in that some of those Judges are coming to the understanding that there's going to be some oversight - something they've never had before.
-