Judge won't step down from Nichols case
Court Alerts
The judge overseeing the murder trial of accused courthouse shooter Brian Nichols said Thursday he won't step down from the case, but will ask another judge to consider a defense request to remove him.
Lawyers for defendant Brian Nichols said in court papers earlier this week that Superior Court Judge James Bodiford was quoted in a newspaper article four days after the March 11, 2005, shootings saying that he was friends with the judge killed in the rampage.
The article also said Bodiford released a statement at the time that described the death of Judge Rowland Barnes as a "brutal murder."
Nichols' lawyers questioned Bodiford's ability to be impartial, and asked that he step down.
Bodiford said at a hearing Thursday that he doesn't believe he should step down. But he said it's a good idea to let another judge review the issue.
Bodiford is serving on the Nichols case in place of a previous judge who stepped down from the case in late January after he was quoted in a magazine article saying of Nichols that "everyone in the world knows he did it."
Nichols' murder trial for the killings of four people resumes July 10.
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