USA - Arizona. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the death sentence for Richard Hurles, 52, white

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned 2-1 the death sentence for Richard Hurles, 52, white. The Court said Judge Ruth Hilliard should not have presided over Hurles‘ trial and sentencing because of an “unconstitutionally high” potential that she was biased against him. When Hilliard defended a challenge of her pretrial rulings in the case before the state court of appeals, she assumed “two incompatible roles: that of arbiter and that of adversary.” At that point, she should have stepped aside for another judge in order to assure Hurles a fair trial. Hurles was convicted in 1994 in the Nov. 12, 1992, murder of Kay Blanton, a librarian who was found that afternoon half-naked on the floor of Buckeye Public Library.