McMartin Judge Denies Bias Against Defense
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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge William Pounders, seeking to retain control of the molestation retrial of former McMartin Pre-School teacher Ray Buckey, has formally denied allegations that he is biased against the defense.
Pounders, who presided over the nearly three-year, $13-million trial that culminated in the acquittals of Buckey, 31, and his mother, Peggy McMartin Buckey, 63, on child abuse charges, filed a 13-page response late Thursday. “I am not prejudiced or biased against or in favor of any party to this proceeding or their counsel,” the judge said.
Ray Buckey’s attorney, Danny Davis, filed papers last month aimed at removing Pounders from the record-breaking case on grounds that he is anti-defense. Buckey, who worked with his mother at the Manhattan Beach preschool, faces retrial March 9 on some molestation and conspiracy counts on which jurors deadlocked.
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