Defense fails in bid to have judge removed from Tara Baker murder trial

By Joe Johnson

A defense motion to remove the judge presiding over the trial of the man accused of killing University of Georgia law student Tara Baker was denied Wednesday during a hearing in Superior Court.

The motion had been filed by the attorney representing Edrick Faust, who is charged with murdering the 23-year-old student in January 2001 during a burglary of Baker’s apartment.

In addition to murder, Faust is charged in a 12-count indictment with aggravated assault, rape, and arson for setting Baker’s apartment on fire.

His attorney sought to have Western Judicial Circuit Chief Judge Lisa Lott removed from the case, which is scheduled to begin trial on Monday.

Ahmad R. Crews had argued in the recusal motion that certain pretrial rulings that Lott made jeopardized his client’s rights to a fair trial.

Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard denied the motion at the end of Wednesday’s hearing,