Cops like Gottlieb live in the moment. The manufactured notes are an expediency. His primary concern is the criminal trial. He's got an investment in Nifong now, so his concern is to bolster Nifong's faltering case. In for a penny; in for a pound. There may be a thought about a civil trial in the back of his mind, but he doesn't have a dog in that fight other than some thought of general revenge against these rich northern boys (in his mind) just for being rich northern boys. Gottlieb's bread gets buttered on the criminal side of the case, not the civil side.