Judge recuses self in trial of alleged courthouse killer

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- The judge presiding over the case of accused Atlanta courthouse shooter Brian Nichols recused himself from the case Wednesday.

Dekalb County Superior Court Judge Hilton Fuller filed a formal notice of recusal in the case, according to court spokesman Don Plummer.

Fuller's recusal comes after media reports regarding a statement he made in a magazine article.

The quote is attributed to Fuller in the January 30 issue of The New Yorker magazine, in an article written by CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. In it, Fuller said the "only defense" open to Nichols' defense attorneys was an insanity defense, "because everyone in the world knows he did it."

"Judicial impartiality, real and perceived, is a critical element of the trial process," Fuller wrote in the recusal order. "In light of recent media reports, I am no longer hopeful that I can provide a trial perceived to be fair for both the state and the accused.

"Whether I was accurately quoted is immaterial," the judge said. "What is material is the perception created by that attribution."

In October, Fuller abruptly terminated jury selection in Nichols' trial, and granted a defense motion to delay the trial indefinitely until the question of funding for defense attorneys is resolved.

Nichols, 36, has pleaded not guilty to 54 counts including murder, kidnapping, robbery and escape in the March 2005 incident.

Nichols is accused of overpowering a sheriff's deputy as she was leading him into the courtroom where he was facing a second trial on rape charges, and taking the deputy's gun from a lockbox.

Prosecutors allege he then fatally shot the judge, a court reporter and another sheriff's deputy as he fled the courthouse. He is also accused of killing a federal agent he encountered in the Atlanta suburbs. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty against him.

Defense attorneys have said in court filings that Nichols suffered from a "delusional compulsion" at the time of the shootings, and that they plan to use that as the basis for an insanity defense. E-mail to a friend