By Alabama Public Radio
Birmingham, AL – Federal Judge U-W Clemon has refused to withdraw from the October fourth trial of former Governor Don Siegelman. Federal prosecutors had asked Clemon to step down from hearing the bid-rigging case against Siegelman, saying that the judge was biased against the government and had ties to an attorney who's representing a government witness in the case. Clemon denied those bias charges in an opinion issued Monday. He also refused to step down at a hearing earlier this month. Siegelman, his former Chief of Staff Paul Hamrick and Tuscaloosa Doctor Phillip Bobo are charged with conspiring to rig bids on a state Medicaid contract.