A judge announced Friday he will not recuse himself from a retrial for the man accused in the death of Morgan Hill teenager Sierra LaMar.
Judge Brian Buckelew’s decision comes after he was called biased by the defense team for Antolin Garcia-Torres and moves the case forward. Friday’s court hearing also saw Buckelew rule on several pre-trial motions, including DNA experts allowed in the case.
Garcia-Torres’s defense team previously argued the judge was biased based on a handful of prior rulings and because he used to work as a prosecutor in Santa Clara County. Buckelew decided not to step aside, citing he had no involvement in Garcia-Torres’s first case and the defense waited too long to object to him hearing the new case. The defense team did not challenge the judge’s decision…