A man accused in the 2006 slaying of a University of Vermont student wants the judge taken off his case.
Thirty-seven-year-old Brian Rooney wrote a letter to Judge Michael Kupersmith in which he said Kupersmith is biased and makes bad legal decisions. The two-page, typewritten letter, received yesterday, demands that Kupersmith withdraw from the case, which is supposed to go to trial May 13th in Rutland.
Rooney is charged with aggravated murder in the death of Michelle Gardner-Quinn, a 21-year-old senior from Arlington, Virginia. She disappeared after a chance meeting with Rooney on a downtown Burlington street and was found dead six days later.
Rooney tried to fire his defense attorney recently, but they’ve apparently smoothed things out.
No word yet on whether Kupersmith will be replaced on the case.