Judge Michael Clark also refused to force Judge Melodie Snell-Conner to explain her reasons for not continuing on the case. Snell-Conner who attended high school with Barton Corbin said she voluntarily recused herself because she signed a search warrant in the police investigation of the shooting death of Corbin's wife, Jennifer. The judge did not elaborate about her decision.
Corbin's attorneys are expected to appeal the ruling with the Georgia Supreme Court.
Barton Corbin has been charged in his wife's death and faces similar charges in Richmond County in the 1990 death of his former girlfriend Dorothy ``Dolly'' Hearn.
Corbin, who was being held in the Richmond County Jail in Augusta until last week, appeared in court for the hearing wearing a dark suit and looking visibly thinner since his arrest Dec. 22. His brothers sat behind him.
Across the courtroom, Jennifer's parents, Max and Narda Barber, and her sister, Rajel Caldwell, talked with Hearn's parents before the hearing.
On Friday, Corbin waived his right to a Jan. 31 arraignment. He will remain in Gwinnett County Jail while preparing for his defense in the Jennifer Corbin case.
Jennifer Corbin's body was found Dec. 4 at the couple's home in Buford. She had been killed by a single gunshot to the head, prompting authorities to initially treat the death as a suicide.
Corbin's former girlfriend, Hearn, also died from a single gunshot wound to the head while the two were in dental school in Augusta in 1990. That death was also first thought to be a suicide.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2005/1/142783