CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Kanawha County prosecutor Mark Plants filed a motion to recuse himself from a case involving a neighbor who fired four dozen shots in their residential neighborhood.
Plants lives two doors down from where attorney Mark Bramble held police at bay for several hours earlier this month. Plants was also home and huddled in his house with his children as police closed in on the suspect.
“Based on the law and the facts, I”m going to ask the judge to recuse myself,” Plants said. “The law is pretty clear the prosecutor has to avoid any implication of partiality. I can’t get around the fact I live two doors down from the defendant.”
Plants said he doesn’t believe he would prosecute Bramble’s case with any more or less zeal than he dedicates to all criminal cases. However, others may not be so sure.
“There’s going to be that perception that this is my neighborhood and an appearance I might treat this defendant different than any other random defendant,” Plants said.
Bramble’s attorneys asked for the recusal in motions before a Kanawha County judge. Plants contacted the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorney’s Institute, which will assign a prosecutor from another county to handle the case against Bramble.
Bramble, who had his law license suspended after his arrest, is charged with attempted murder and wanton endangerment. He remains in the South Central Regional Jail.