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Court denies motion to recuse judge in Freeman shooting suspect's case

Judge Michael Price will remain on the case against accused Freeman High School shooter Caleb Sharpe.

SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane County Superior Court has denied a motion asking the judge in the Freeman High School shooting case to recuse himself. 

This means Judge Michael Price will remain on the case against accused shooter Caleb Sharpe.

The defense for Sharpe submitted a motion for recusal on Nov. 4 in Spokane County Superior Court, asking that Judge Michael Price recuse himself from the rest of the case because he “can no longer appear impartial in further proceedings against Mr. Sharpe.”

Sharpe’s attorney Brooke Foley cited multiple parts of Price’s decision handed down in a declination hearing in which Price declined the defense’s request that Sharpe be tried as a minor as being biased “in favor of the Freeman community.”

The defense also claimed in its motion that Price showed bias in his declination ruling and that its normal for a new judge to be assigned to a case when its transferred courts after a defendant is ruled to be tried as an adult. The defense said Price showed he wouldn’t be impartial in future motions relating to evidence, claims of not guilty by insanity or diminished capacity, and premeditation.

RELATED: Attorney for Freeman School shooting suspect asks judge to recuse himself

The state filed its response to the defense’s recusal motion on Nov. 18. In the response, the state said Price shouldn’t be forced to recuse himself because the comments in his declination ruling were appropriate and necessary for the standards he needed to decide.

The state’s response claims that Price had to address the issues the defense said were inappropriately handled by him in the declination decision, including premeditation, community issues, probable cause and maturity including emotional attitude.

According to the state’s response, it was necessary for Price to make decisions on the factors listed by the defense as part of the declination hearing, meaning Price wasn’t showing bias in his comments.

As for the claim that Price spoke of Sharpe being guilty as a “foregone conclusion,” the state said it searched the transcript of Price’s decision in the declination hearing and didn’t find a single usage of any form of the word “guilt.”

RELATED: Freeman High School hosts candlelight vigil to honor those impacted by 2017 shooting

In its response, the state also said Price’s comments on Sharpe having a stable home life and nothing that would drive him to commit the shooting were appropriate as the judge in a declination hearing has to rule on the defendant’s “sophistication and maturity.” The state also claimed the defense was using “selective quoting” in its claim of bias by Price toward the Freeman community.

One of the main points of the defense’s recusal motion was that Price was going against normal practice in not having the case assigned to a new judge as it moved to adult court. The state refuted this, claiming the defense didn’t cite any written or case law and instead used anecdotal evidence reference speaking with “those attorneys who have long practiced in this area.”

Sharpe's trial date is set for Oct. 5, 2020. 

RELATED: Freeman shooting suspect pleads not guilty, bond set at $1M

RELATED: Judge says Freeman shooting suspect will be tried as an adult

The following video is a report on the Freeman HS janitor testifying about the shooting.

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