by law should not be dropped unless prosecutorial misconduct is extreme, but the indictments were dismissed in August 2010 even before the defense had filed any objection. One of the grand jurors said, "The prosecutor was meticulous and so were we. Really, the case felt like a no-brainer until the state killed it." Detective Sergeant Kenneth Rowe said in an email, "I have never seen a prosecutorial agency act or work as a defense counsel. Why the interest in this small-time case?" Barlyn was fired September 15, 2010, for stated reasons by the AG's spokesman which were twice revised over the first few hours. Barlyn filed a wrongful termination lawsuit in Mercer County, claiming that the indictments were quashed to protect the politically connected defendants. In order to prove that he had presented a solid case, Barlyn asked for access to the grand jury records, detective's notes, the memo with the state's reasons for dismissal, and internal emails about reporters' inquiries. The state had taken the unusual step of moving the records from Flemington to Trenton, and objected to their release. Barlyn's side argued that the three indicted officials had gotten the documents, so he should, too. The court decision on July 22, 2015, granted Barlyn access, but not for public release. The state reportedly had spent $1.7 million in legal fees as of July 2015, in a losing battle to keep them secret. As of June 2016, the state reportedly had paid over $3 million in this case to outside counsel Gibbons P. C. alone, which is a greater sum than what Barlyn had hoped that he and the state would settle on before filing his suit in 2012, and Barlyn said that "a trial appears inevitable." Barlyn spoke to investigators from the office of US Attorney Paul Fishman on February 4, 2015. A statement from Fishman's office then declared that no investigation was underway, and apparently clearing Christie; this type of statement is extremely unusual, according to former US Attorneys. Christie was Fishman's immediate predecessor, and many staff hired by Christie were still there, including the investigator working with Barlyn. On July 6, 2015, Barlyn sent a letter to US Attorney General Loretta Lynch, saying, "apparent conflicts between Governor Christie's administration and the U. S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey ... may be compromising the latter's independent role relating to the enforcement of federal law."The