US judge off corruption, kidnapping cases after emails
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge in two of the highest profile criminal cases in Illinois has been removed from hearing all his cases after it was revealed that he had exchanged emails with a paralegal at the U.S. attorney's office in Springfield in which he commented on a trial he was overseeing.
Colin Bruce has been presiding over former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock's corruption case and the case in which Brendt Christensen is accused of kidnapping and slaying a Chinese scholar. Neither has gone to trial.
The chief judge for federal court in central Illinois confirmed Tuesday that he had "temporarily reassigned" Bruce's cases. He didn't say why.