Judge In Trayvon Martin Case Quits Due To Conflict Of Interest

The judge who was set to preside over the trial of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin has stepped aside.

Jessica Reckseidler’s recusal from the trial comes after Mark O’Mara, Zimmerman’s attorney, suggested that her husband’s job as a partner to Mark NeJame, a CNN legal analyst covering the trial, represented a conflict of interest.

NeJame was initially contacted by Zimmerman’s family to represent him, but NeJame suggested O’Mara.

The new judge in the case will be Kenneth R. Lester, Jr., who has presided over several much-covered cases, including ordering the release of a schizophrenic woman from a state mental hospital after she was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting deaths of her parents and sentencing an ax murderer to death after he killed a 71-year-old man. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Lester is popular among attorneys and is known for acting quickly.

The judge who would have been next in line to handle the Zimmerman case after Jessica Reckseidler could not take on the case because he had previously worked with O’Mara, Zimmerman’s attorney.