New judge tapped in Brian Nichols case

Cobb County Superior Court Judge James Bodiford has been selected to take-over the case of accused Atlanta courthouse shooter Brian Nichols. The administrative judge in the 6th Judicial District, Superior Court Judge Quillian Baldwin, filed the order naming Bodiford.

Bodiford replaces Hilton Fuller in the Nichols case. Fuller stepped aside last week from the negative reaction to magazine comments he made suggesting everyone knows Nichols is guilty.

Bodiford previously presided over the first murder trial involving antifreeze killer Lynn Turner and the case involving Tri-State Crematory operator Ray Brent Marsh.

Brian Nichols stands accused of killing four people in a 2005 shooting spree that began in a downtown Atlanta federal courtroom.

Nichols judge quits case

There will be a new judge appointed to the case of accused Atlanta courthouse gunman Brian Nichols. Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller stepped-down yesterday. The move comes in the firestorm of comments attributed to him in a recent magazine article. In the New Yorker article, Fuller says of Nichols "everyone in the world knows he did it". Fuller later said he didn't recall making the comment, but that damage had been done. Fuller said he was no longer hopeful he could provide a trial preceived to be fair. Nichols is accused of killing four people in a 2005 shooting spree.

The case has been plagued by funding problems for the defense. Barry Fleming, Republican Representative from Harlem, led the committee looking at the finances of the Nichols-case.

"I think it was the correct thing for the judge to do, given all the trouble that has gone on with bringing this case to trial. I think he did the right thing...unfortunately I wish it would have occured maybe much sooner than now, and we would have saved three years of time for the victims and the families going through this, and also millions of dollars to the taxpayers".

No word yet as to who the next judge in the case will be.

Judge in courthouse killing case goes after jurors

An Atlanta judge is going after potential jurors who failed to show up for screening in the case of accused courthouse killer Brian Nichols.

DeKalb County Senior Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller has sent letters to 60 people who missed their appointments. The letters order the AWOL jury candidates to show up at the Fulton County Courthouse on July 19 to explain why they skipped out on jury duty.

If they do not show up, the letter says, a sheriff's deputy will serve them a contempt citation.

"You should be aware that an unexplained failure to appear may be punished in the form of a fine and/or jail service time," Fuller's letter states.

Those 60 candidates are just a small fraction of the 2,800 potential jurors summoned to fill out questionnaires in the case. Nichols' death penalty trial is scheduled to begin in September. He is accused of killing a sitting judge, a court reporter, a sheriff's deputy, and a federal agent in 2005. The overwhelming attention to the crimes has made it harder to select qualified, unbiased jurors.