CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. — The man who allegedly killed University of Virginia sophomore Hannah Graham is scheduled to go to trial in July 2016, after a local judge set the trial date Thursday.
Albemarle County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl V. Higgins also declined to recuse herself from the case against Jesse L. Matthew Jr. Matthew, 33, who faces the possibility of a death sentence on charges related to the disappearance and slaying of Graham, an 18-year-old from Fairfax County who went missing in September.
Video surveillance from that night shows Matthew and Graham walking together; she was never seen alive again.
Capital defender Douglas Ramseur filed a motion this month asking for Higgins to be removed from the case because her daughter was a U-Va. sophomore at the time of Graham’s disappearance. Higgins’ daughter attended a vigil for Graham before her body was found.
In court Thursday, Ramseur argued that Higgins should recuse herself to avoid “the appearance of impropriety.”
Albemarle Commonwealth’s Attorney Denise Lunsford argued that it would be nearly impossible to find a Virginia judge who lacked any connection to Virginia’s flagship public school.
Higgins declined to recuse herself, saying she could “fairly and objectively” oversee the case and has no bias in the matter. But she also ruled that a second Albemarle judge could be brought in “out of an abundance of caution,” to decide any pre-trial motions regarding the use of evidence from search warrants Higgins signed in the early days of the case.
During the hour-long proceedings, Matthew spoke only once. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, he stood to waive his right to a speedy trial, struggling to raise his right hand — which was chained to his body — as he was sworn in.
Higgins set pretrial motions and scheduled the trial for four weeks, beginning July 5, 2016.
Matthew was convicted earlier this month on three charges related to a 2005 sexual assault in Fairfax County. He will be sentenced in October and faces the possibility of three life terms in prison after he pleaded guilty to attempted capital murder, abduction with intent to defile and sexual assault charges.
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