One of the things I noticed while watching the hearing this morning was Freedman talking about what a busy schedule he has and why he hasn't done much work on Nifong's case.
Could it be he may jump ship and fire his client, or has Nifong told him he better be in for the long haul?
Freeman is likely not bailing but negotiating for Nifong. He probably sees this as a case where a deal is in the best interest of the client.
Imagine if he could get Nifong a deal where he copped to the misleading statements, retired, gave up his license and was not officially found to have lied to the court or hidden evidence. That would salvage Nifong's rep as much as could be done, I think.