Judge pulls himself off actor’s murder trial; ‘travesty,’ says victim’s dad

An Orange County judge recused himself from a Costa Mesa murder trial Tuesday, citing doubts he could remain impartial in the case against Daniel Wozniak, a 30-year-old community theater actor accused of brutally killing two Orange Coast College students in 2010.

The decision is likely to further delay a process that has frustrated the victims’ families, who have been waiting for their day in court for more than four years.

“This is a travesty of our justice system,” said Steve Herr, whose son was allegedly shot twice by Wozniak. “What [the judge] did is add another year or two to the case.”

Judge James Stotler gave only a limited explanation for his decision to remove himself from the case, but indicated he questioned his ability to remain unbiased toward a defense attorney who has repeatedly attacked the Orange County district attorney’s office, Sheriff’s Department and Superior Court judges.

Public defender Scott Sanders is trying to bar the death penalty for Wozniak based on allegations that Orange County law enforcement agencies systematically violated defendants’ rights in capital cases.

Sanders has accused the entire district attorney’s office of systematically withholding evidence from defendants and misusing jailhouse informants to coax damaging information out of defendants.

Sanders recently filed a motion asking that the district attorney’s office be removed from the case. He also indicated he’d file another motion seeking to remove the entire bench of Orange County Superior Court judges, arguing they won’t be able to fairly rule on his allegations because they involve prosecutors who have become judges.

Instead of waiting for the motion, Stotler removed himself Tuesday after days of “soul searching.”

Stotler said he found himself in an improper mind-set while listening to Sanders during a hearing Friday when the public defender began hurling “vociferous invectives” at prosecutors.

The judge said he began thinking about whether people in the audience were wondering why he didn’t stop Sanders.

“I was actually thinking that,” Stotler said

Instead, Stotler said he let Sanders’ acrimony go on with the thought he’d let the lawyer essentially “dig his own grave.”

“That’s not proper judicial thinking,” Stotler said.

The judge’s decision inflamed Herr, who stormed out of the courtroom after yelling, “It’s just not fair, sir,” at the judge.

According to grand jury testimony from Costa Mesa police detectives, Wozniak admitted to police that he killed Sam Herr, 26, and Juri “Julie” Kibuishi, 23, so he could steal $50,000 from Sam Herr’s bank account.

Prosecutors say Wozniak dismembered Sam Herr’s body in order to hide it and staged Kibuishi’s body to look as if she’d been sexually assaulted to throw police off the trail.

The victims’ families have repeatedly voiced their frustration to Stotler about delays in the trial while Sanders crafted voluminous motions outlining his allegations against law enforcement.

Steve Herr said Sanders has stolen attention from the victims and the brutality of the crime.

“My son is dead,” he said. “He was hacked to pieces.”

The case is expected to be reassigned to a new judge who will consider Sanders’ motions and whether to delay the trial again past its scheduled Feb. 13 start.

“For us, we’re really just looking forward to the opportunity to get before a court who can treat these issues fairly,” Sanders said.

Prosecutor Matt Murphy said he didn’t believe the recusal was necessary but added, “Judge Stotler is a very thoughtful, careful man and we accept his decision.”