Aaron Hernandez Update: Judge denies prosecutors' motion for recusal in ex-NFL star's murder case
(CBS) FALL RIVER, Mass. - Judge Susan Garsh has denied prosecutors' motion to recuse herself in the murder case against ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez.
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"I harbor no bias against the defendant or the Commonwealth," Garsh said in Fall River Court Monday afternoon after hearing arguments from both the prosecution and Hernandez's defense attorneys in regard to the motion.
"I do not fear or favor the Commonwealth or the defendant," she said.
Prosecutors had asked Judge Garsh to step aside, saying she and prosecutor William McCauley have a "history of antagonism" stemming from a 2010 murder trial. McCauley had criticized her publicly even after winning a conviction in the case.
He says Garsh was hostile and wrongly excluded evidence.
The former New England Patriot's attorneys called the recusal request "patently without merit" and say the bias charges are unsupported.
During the hearing Monday, Hernandez's attorney, James Sulton, argued that "complaining about rulings is not a ground for recusal."
"It is important that this motion is denied and denied quickly," Sulton said.
"When a motion doesn't have merit, it should be thrown away... and I ask the court to do that."
READ: Timeline of Aaron Hernandez murder investigation
The prosecutors acknowledged in court Monday that an identical motion was filed two years ago but was never ruled on. Garsh explained that the motion to recuse in that case was not addressed in court because she was forced to give the case to another judge due to scheduling conflicts.
Hernandez, who appeared in court Monday wearing a suit and a pink tie, said nothing during the hearing. His lawyers asked for his handcuffs to be removed during the hearing and the judge obliged.
CBS News' legal analyst Rikki Klieman said on CBS This Morning following the filing of the recusal motion in the Hernandez case earlier this month thatshe thought the motion for recusal "is not a good idea" despite any bad blood that the prosecutor and the judge may have had in the past.
Instead, she said, a much better move for the prosecution would have been for the prosecutor to recuse himself from the case.
"Prosecutors are actually fungible. You have a whole office full of prosecutors," Klieman said. "If you're going to move to recuse a judge because you have personal animosity or she has it towards you, for heavens sake, why not recuse yourself and let some other prosecutor go ask the questions," Klieman said.
Hernandez, 23, was indicted in August in the killing of 27-year-old Odin Lloyd, a semi-professional football player who was dating the sister of Hernandez's girlfriend. He pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and five weapons-related charges last month and is being held without bailat a county jail.
The defense has said previously that prosecutors' case won't hold up during a jury trial and they are confident Hernandez will be exonerated.