WOODLAND — A second Yolo Superior Court judge has been recused from the case of a 16-year-old Davis boy accused of killing an elderly couple earlier this year.
This time, it was the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office that filed the motion to disqualify Judge Paul K. Richardson, who was assigned to the Daniel Marsh case after the Public Defender’s Office sought to remove the previously assigned judge, Timothy Fall, in late November.
Marsh is accused of fatally stabbing longtime Davis residents Oliver “Chip” Northup, 87, and his wife Claudia Maupin, 76, on the early morning of April 14 inside their Cowell Boulevard condominium.
Assistant Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Cabral, who is prosecuting Marsh, declined to comment Monday as to why his office sought to have Richardson recused. By law, each side in a criminal or civil action may file one disqualification motion — also known as a peremptory challenge — without having to provide a specific reason.
Richardson had ruled in the DA’s favor in the case on Nov. 1, upholding a special-circumstance allegation of torture after Marsh’s attorneys sought to have the count dismissed. The teen also is charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree murder and the special circumstances of multiple murders and lying in wait. He has pleaded not guilty.
Marsh is due back in court Jan. 10 for a status conference, at which time a new judge is expected to be assigned to the matter. The trial is scheduled to begin March 3.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene