Motion to remove judge denied

UCF's motion to request a judge other than Circuit Judge Robert M. Evans to preside over the Ereck Plancher wrongful death case was denied Tuesday, according to Orange County Clerk of Court public case records.

After Circuit Judge Evans made comments May 27 that Knights football head coach George O'Leary "doesn't seem to be the sharpest knife in the drawer" in an open court, UCF filed a motion to have Evans disqualified from the case.

UCF wrote in the motion that Evans' comments "implies a lack of intelligence, lack of understanding and/or lack of training on one of the most critical issues in the case."

UCF was also perturbed about comments made by Evans alluding to O'Leary's past at Notre Dame after Evans said "I don't care if UCF is at, you know, South Bend, you know, playing Notre Dame. The trial's going on and, you know, if the coach is called on that Friday, he's by God going to be here for that trial." O'Leary resigned from Notre Dame in 2001 after lying about academics on his résumé.

With Evans still presiding over the Plancher case, the case is scheduled to start Monday, beginning with selection of the jury.