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Judge Says He Will Not Step Down In Re-Trial Of Convicted Arsonist

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The judge who was asked to step aside from a controversial case gave prosecutors his answer Wednesday afternoon – he will not. But the issue may not be settled yet.

Late Wednesday afternoon, Judge Joseph Williams rejected the prosecution's recusal motion in the Bricelyn Street fire case.

"I was fair, and I can continue to be fair," he said.

Defense attorney Dave Fawcett agreed.

"The judge described what was fairly an avalanche of evidence proving that the government had paid witnesses and never disclosed that and that was fundamentally unfair," Fawcett said.

"The entire motion itself seemed as the judge said to be suspect in the sense that the commonwealth waited until after an adverse ruling and then made allegations that the judge was biased in some regard and there really was no evidence presented by the D.A. here today as he said to show any kind of bias on the judges part."

"The motion appeared to be baseless and really appeared to be something that was filed just because they were unhappy with what really was a thoughtful decision originally and then looked at and upheld on appeal," Fawcett said.

Gregory Brown was a teenager when he was convicted in the fire that killed three Pittsburgh firefighters 20 years ago. But he got a new trial because Judge Joseph Williams ruled the prosecution should have disclosed that key witnesses in the first trial got reward money for their testimony.

But District Attorney Steve Zappala says the judge, as a defense attorney years ago, had a business relationship in a business that burned and when questioned by federal agents, he took offense. He thinks that affected his handling of the Bricelyn Street fire case.

"He was offended by that and put that into writing," Zappala said. "I'm just concerned. I saw, more importantly my staff in the room saw what they believed to be a manifestation of some ill will against the agents."

So he asked the judge to step aside. The judge refused. The judge has broad discretion when asked to step aside because of bias. Does his decision end this matter?

"No," Zappala said. "We'd probably take an appeal."

The new trial is tentatively scheduled for early next year, but that may depend on whether the bias issue ends up being appealed.

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