Abu Ghraib suspect fails in bid for new judge

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N07323817.htm

FORT HOOD, Texas, July 7 (Reuters) - Attorneys for U.S. Army reservist Lynndie England, who became the face of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, tried unsuccessfully on Thursday to remove the judge in the case and said she planned to plead not guilty in her trial next month.

The lawyers charged that military judge Col. James Pohl could not conduct a fair trial and asked him to recuse himself, but he refused.

England pleaded guilty to abuse charges in exchange for a reduced sentence in a deal with prosecutors at a trial in May, but the deal fell through when Pohl declared a mistrial.

He said testimony from England's former lover, Abu Ghraib abuse ringleader Charles Graner, undermined her guilty plea.