Superior Court Judge Daniel Coursey, in a ruling Thursday, denied a defense motion seeking to remove Superior Court Judge James Bodiford from the Nichols case.

The defense argued Bodiford can't be fair to Nichols because of comments Bodiford made in a newspaper article published four days after the March 11th, 2005, shooting spree that began at the Fulton County Courthouse.

Bodiford said in the story that he was friends with slain Judge Rowland Barnes, and he released a statement at the time describing Barnes' death as a ``brutal murder.''

The previous judge overseeing the murder case stepped down from the case in January because of comments he made to a magazine.

Nichols is charged with killing Barnes and three other people.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)