Brian Nichols Judge Takes Witness Stand ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - Today the judge presiding over the Brian Nichols case took the witness stand in a DeKalb County Courtroom. Nichols' lawyers want Judge James Bodiford off the case, because a news report indicated that he and one of Nichols' alleged victims were friends.

In a 2005 article in the Marietta Daily Journal, Bodiford refers to Fulton County Judge Rowland Barnes as a friend. Nichols' lawyers subpoenaed Bodiford to ask him to describe the nature of that friendship. Bodiford said it was professional:

BODIFORD: I never did anything with Judge Barnes. Say, go out to eat with him, go out to lunch with him, go bowl, go to church. I didn't have that type of relationship with Judge Barnes.

Bodiford, a Cobb County Judge, said he only recalls speaking with Barnes twice, and doesn't remember speaking with the reporter who wrote the article, or issuing any statement after Barnes' death.

Prosecutors dismissed their motion as a tactic to delay the trial.

Stone Mountain Judge Daniel Coursey heard their arguments he will issue a decision next week.
© Copyright 2012, WABE