MURRAY, KY- Addressing the court Monday morning, Chief Circuit Judge Dennis Foust said, "I got to thinking about it. There are times when the court has no choice but to recuse in a matter."
In the end, that was exactly what the Judge decided to do at the 11th hour. Zay Jackson will now be waiting several more weeks to learn his sentence. It is time Alia and Jason Clement do not mind.
Investigators initially charged the Murray State sophomore and basketball player with assault for hitting the pair in a Walmart parking lot on September 9th.
Later, when the charges were downgraded Jackson entered a guilty plea and received a 30 day sentence.
"The judge recusing himself at least maybe we'll get a fair judge from somewhere, not biased from here," Jason Clement said.
A chief regional judge will now rule on Jackson's fate and could even change the plea deal. Admittedly, Foust has ties to Murray State. He tells Local 6 he felt pressure to step aside in this case.
He said he wanted to ensure everyone in his courtroom got the same, impartial treatment, "I don't want to comment on the specifics of why I felt I need to recuse but my objectivity, I felt like could be questioned."
Zay Jackson has served just one weekend in jail. For now, his jail time will be delayed and so will his time on the basketball court. A Murray State spokeswoman says Jackson has been suspended and will not play until the matter is resolved.
Jackson heads back to court November 13th.
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