A senator from Logan County said this week that he feels better that a Kanawha County judge has been appointed to preside over the trial of the man accused of attacking him at a political cookout last year.
After both of Logan County's circuit judges recused themselves from the case last month, the West Virginia Supreme Court appointed Kanawha Circuit Judge Duke Bloom to hear the case of Jonathan Porter, 42, of Holden.
Porter is charged with malicious assault in an attack last May on Sen. Richard Ojeda, D-Logan.
Ojeda was attacked last year in the days before he defeated the incumbent senator, Art Kirkendoll, in one of the biggest political upsets in Logan County history.
Ojeda has said Porter hit him from behind with a pipe and brass knuckles and then tried to run him over with a pickup.
"This man almost killed me," Ojeda said Tuesday. "I'm not going to let him get away with this."
Ojeda admitted, though, that he's scared he won't be able to find justice in Logan County.
It wasn't until last month, after a television news station reported on the case, that Logan Circuit Judge Eric O'Briant stepped down from Porter's case, Ojeda said.
The senator wanted O'Briant off the case because he plans to sue the judge's daughter. Ojeda has already filed a complaint with the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel against O'Briant's daughter, Shayna Thompson.
Ojeda alleges that while Thompson was a lawyer for the Logan County Board of Education, she released copies of his taxes to people who were campaigning against him. Thompson now works as an assistant Logan County prosecutor.
Logan Prosecuting Attorney John Bennett told the Gazette-Mail on Thursday that Thompson has had no involvement in the case his office is bringing against Porter. O'Briant couldn't be reached to comment about Ojeda's claims.
Ojeda also has raised concerns about O'Briant's close relationship with Porter's uncle, former Logan County circuit clerk Alvis Porter.
"Everyone knows they are friends. They worked together [in the Logan courthouse] for years," Ojeda said.
After O'Briant recused himself from Porter's case, Logan County's other circuit judge, Joshua Butcher wrote to the Supreme Court that he also needed to step away from the case.
"The facts of this case, as I understand them, are deeply intertwined with the recent and hotly contested litigation surrounding my own election," Butcher wrote to justices. "Specifically, my predecessor Judge Douglas Witten challenged my election, in part, on the grounds that misinformation surrounding Mr. Porter's alleged assault on Senator Ojeda unfairly prejudiced the electorate and rendered my election invalid."
Even though Witten eventually dropped his claims involving Ojeda, Butcher wrote that while he prepared to defend his election, he had "substantial contact with Senator Ojeda" and publicly asserted that the allegations against Porter were true.
Bloom this week pushed back the start of Porter's trial to March. The Kanawha judge also left Porter's bail in place. He's been on home confinement since last year.
A domestic assault charge against Porter in 2002 was dismissed, according to Logan County court documents. O'Briant served as the judge in that case.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.