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Variety in the Heartland |
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Special Judge
To Hear Case
05/08/08 MRC/AP
An eastern
Kentucky judge has removed himself from hearing the murder
case against a Delaware teenager charged in the death of a
Bell County sheriff's deputy.
Circuit Judge
James L. Bowling Jr. said he could have presided
impartially over the trial of 17-year-old David Poppiti of
New Castle, Delaware, but stepped aside because he knew
the victim.
A special
judge will hear the case surrounding the traffic crash
death of Deputy Sean Pursifull in January.
Authorities
were chasing Poppiti and 16-year-old Eric Gerrin of
Lincoln University, Pennsylvania., after they allegedly
drove off without paying for gasoline in Harlan County.
Police said
Pursifull had parked beside U.S. 119 to help stop them
when the car driven by Poppiti veered off the road and
struck the deputy's cruiser.
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