The Aaron Hernandez case has taken a number of interesting turns throughout its run in the courts and now after the prosecution in the case put in a motion for the judge in the proceedings to recuse herself, Judge Susan Garsh ruled and decided to reject the motion, keeping herself on the case for the trial.
According to ESPN.com, the motion was put in by prosecutor William McCauley and the reason for the motion stemmed from a previous case the two worked together where he said the judge was unfair about evidence and also had a bias towards him in the case. The report says that the hearing lasted about 45 minutes before the judge made a ruling and it came after prosecutors filed the motion, adding that there was "antagonism" from the judge towards the lawyer that could have an effect on the case.
McCauley said to reporters that he was not trying to get a new judge necessarily, but that he felt it was necessary for the judge to "address what he called unresolved issues" between the two. Clearly now that won't happen and now the prosecution will have to move forward with the judge in the case and so will Hernandez, who still stands accused of first degree murder in the death of Odin Lloyd and is facing life in prison.
The defense was not happy about the motion and they argued against it, saying that he felt the state was trying to "manipulate" the situation to get a different judge in the case. Hernandez had asked to appear at all hearings and he was there again on Monday, wearing a blazer as well as pink tie and he did not speak. His fiancée Shayanna Jenkins, who was not at his last hearing, was in attendance on Monday according to the AP and she is facing her own chargers of perjury in the case.
ESPN analyst Roger Cossack called the move by the prosecution a "mistake", adding that McCauley's arguments had no basis for the motion and that after the embarrassing move, he could be replaced on the case despite having been on it since the beginning. The judge made an immediate decision in the motion and Cossack said that the arguments made "little sense" for the motion and that the judge was not happy with the state for doing it. Cossack said the next moves are setting up motions and dates for the future, as well as evidence and then possibly setting a trial date for next fall or spring.
