How would you like to be the fresh faced kid right out of law school who is handed this huge pile of manure?
"How would you like to be the fresh faced kid right out of law school who is handed this huge pile of manure?"
I would walk right into court and ask the judge to dismiss all charges.
And then DARE the damaged Nifong to remove me from office for doing it.
He wouldn't dare, because he's a weenie.
But if he DID, I would be a local hero and have no trouble at all getting another job.
Sometimes when you are in the position to actually make the move, you use the authority inherent in your office and disobey orders from superiors. THEY can't overrule the judge, the right thing happens, and then they are in the position of having a (politely) insubordinate subordinate who did the right thing. It has been my experience (I did this once, in a relatively similar situation) that men like Nifong are WEAK. Once their bluff is called, they are scared rabbits.
So, you, the young buck, do not stand there and do the wrong thing. You use the inherent power of your office, ignore your boss, give the judge the motion HE needs to do the right thing which HE wants to do, and then you rely upon the lack of spine of your boss to DARE do anything to you.
If you're right (and I was) he's the weasel you thought he was, and he chews you out, you politely listen, walk out, shrug your shoulders, still have the job, and WIN. You got your way. He was overruled by you. And all he could do was powerlessly yell. He didn't dare fire you. All you had to do was not lose your cool while your weasel boss ranted and raved, powerless, because he was overruled by a subordinate with a will of his own.
Abuse of power? Well, sort of. It is the subordinate's job to obey orders. But it's also his job to DO JUSTICE. And sometimes you flout orders and do things against authority because it's RIGHT. And if your boss is weak, you win.
Nifong is weak. The new lawyer should ignore him, move to drop the charges, and get it over with.