Against Cobb......
Other Complaints Surface
By Rick Young
Staff Writer
Motions filed alleging prejudice on the part of Eastern District U. S. Judge Howell Cobb by defense attorneys in the James Wade trial are nothing new to Cobb.
While Gary Richardson, of Tulsa, Okla., representing Wade in the Sherman trial, twice requested that Cobb's actions in court be noted in the trial record as examples of the judge's bias and prejudice against Wade, and six further examples of alleged prejudicial conduct by the judge were listed in the motions asking he remove himself from further action in the case. Richardson said he was not surprised that the judge denied the motions Monday.
The Oct. 19 motions filed by Wade's attorneys, which Cobb said in his written explanation for the denial were filed too late, cited only six examples the defense said showed Cobb was biased and prejudiced. Last week the judge denied a retrial for another defendant whose attorney cited 29 examples of bias and prejudice on the part of the judge during his client's trial.
In January, Cobb sentenced Port Arthur businessman Eric Marroquin to 25 years in prison and asses $100,000 in fines for Marroquin's part in a scheme to defraud insurance companies. Marroquin's attorney, the late Steve Rienstra, in December 1987 filed a motion for retrial, which Cobb delayed his response to for 11 months.
"The court made numerous comments in response to defense objections indicating the Court's displeasure with defense counsel and the Court's belief that the defendant was guilty," the motion stated.
The motion also says the atmosphere created by Cobb resulted in the jury feeling obligated to return guilt verdicts.
Cobb ordered the jury in the Wade trial not to talk to anyone concerning the case and denied an earlier defense request to speak to them.
Complaints about Cobb's actions in the wade trial have been forwarded as high as the U. S. House and Senate Judiciary Committees by press organizations covering the trial, charging Cobb violated the U. S. Constitution in the conduct of the trial.
Cobb refuses to comment to reporters concerning the complaints or the legal matters presently pending before his court.
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