A north Alabama attorney has been appointed to serve on the court currently considering judicial ethics charges that could result in the removal of suspended Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore.
Attorney W.N. "Rocky" Watson of Fort Payne will replace Opelika attorney John V. Denson on the Alabama Court of the Judiciary during the Moore case. Denson recused himself from the case to avoid any appearance of impropriety. He is the only current member of the Court of the Judiciary that was also on the body in 2003, when Chief Justice Moore was first removed from office.
Judicial investigators are asking the Court of the Judiciary to permanently remove Moore from office after he instructed the state's probate judges to disobey a U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage. Moore was previously removed from office in 2003 after refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building.
A hearing in the current case is set for Aug. 4.