That being the case, all bets are off.
Duke has offered a substantial sum in settlement, which has been refused? Then the defendants will twist and turn and try to delay the trial, but the whole purpose of delay on the part of the defense is to try to leverage a settlement. If the plaintiffs aren't interested in a settlement, then all the delay in the world will, in the end, do no good.
And sooner or later the judge is going to deny a motion for extension of discovery time, and set a trial date.
If they are just deposing Alleva, though, and haven't yet deposed the police chief, and the defendants are filing motions for protective orders to limit discovery, we are probably not near the end of discovery.
But this could get . . . interesting.
Yes. Lots of discovery yet to go, and all of it very revealing. Which is why Duke U has spent uncounted millions trying to prevent it.
One other tidbit: There’s no statute of limitations on felonies in North Carolina. And since it was a deliberate attempt to pin a rap on innocent people, there’s plenty to go around.