NORWICH – County Court W. Howard Sullivan has recused himself from hearing another local murder case citing a backlog of family court work.
George Ford Jr., 42, of Piscataway, N.J., was indicted for second degree murder over the death of his 12-year-old Otselic Valley baby-sitter, Shyanne A. Somers, from South Otselic, on July 8.
“I would like to respectfully recuse myself in this matter. My calendar is specifically set up for clearing the extraordinary caseload in Family Court. This trial will severely cut into my ability to do so,” said the judge in a statement.
Newly-elected Broome County Court Judge Joseph Cawley will now hear the case.
The case is supposed to be scheduled for jury trial, but no date has yet been set because of another pending murder case. Peter M. Wlasiuk is scheduled to begin his murder re-trial next month after his convictions was overturned by the state’s appellate division nearly a year ago in the death of his wife. Wlasiuk’s defense attorney, Randel Scharf of Cooperstown, also represents Ford. Due to the fact that both McBride and Sharf are involved in the Wlasiuk trial, the Ford case has been scheduled to begin its pretrial hearings following the Wlasiuk disposition.
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