The pressure was finally too much and Judge Lynwood Smith, the federal judge in the case against former Governor Don Siegelman and second cousin to current Governor Bob Riley, has officially removed himself from the Siegelman case.

U.S District Judge Lynwood Smith said he was confident he could be fair, but he had “no desire to contribute to the prevailing level of cynical distrust of pronouncements by public officials.”

Smith’s decision will almost certainly force a delay in Siegelman’s trial, now scheduled for Aug. 2, defense attorney Jack Drake said.

Smith’s departure came a week after U.S. Attorney Alice Martin recommended he step down after revealing he attended campaign events for his second cousin when he was running against Siegelman in 2002.

Martin issued a statement saying she trusts Smith’s decision “will eliminate any concerns of the public in our judicial process.”

I’m not sure there was much public concern, but whatever there was has been removed, I am sure.

**Crossposted at Polstate.com

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