DURHAM Tracey Cline will begin her fight today to keep her job as Durham's top prosecutor.

Despite efforts to delay the hearing last week, Cline will face a superior court judge this week with the power to undo voters' will when they elected Cline as Durham County District Attorney in 2008.

Cline, 48, has been under fire for weeks as she took aim at chief Superior Court Judge Orlando Hudson, saying that he is biased against her. Cline has tried and failed twice to remove Hudson from criminal cases in Durham; she has attacked Hudson, saying he has the "reprobate mind of a monarch."

Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood will handle the hearing on Cline's removal. He said Friday that Cline's court filings regarding Hudson will be the center of his inquiry as to whether she can remain in office.

Cline faces removal under a rarely invoked statute that allows a judge to remove a district attorney if they find that her behavior is "prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the office into disrepute." Durham lawyer, Kerry Sutton, initiated efforts to remove Cline.

Sutton, along with Fairview lawyer Stephen Lindsay will present evidence to the judge starting at 10 a.m. today about Cline's behavior in recent months.

James Van Camp, one of a team of lawyers Cline hired late last week, will begin presenting Cline's defense Friday.

Already, Cline's strategy has shifted. Van Camp announced in a hearing Friday that they would back off efforts to call a reporter and editors from The News & Observer to the stand to testify. They also will backtrack from Cline's efforts to secure Judge Hudson's emails.