Former Pilot Flying J president Mark Hazelwood said Chattanooga Federal Judge Curtis Collier is biased against him and should not preside over his retrial.
Convictions against Hazelwood were overturned by two members of a three judge panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals based on Judge Collier allowing the jury to hear racist songs and banter during a Pilot sales party attended by Hazelwood.
New attorneys for Hazelwood said the recordings were highly prejudicial to Hazelwood and tainted the jury against him.
Hazelwood, in a 29-page memorandum, said, "I believe the Court has a personal bias and prejudice against me and in favor of the government, and that a reasonable and informed person (a) would conclude that the Court has such a bias and prejudice, and (b) might question the Court’s impartiality."
Attorneys also said they believe the retrial in Chattanooga will focus much more on the Haslam family.
Jimmy Haslam, owner of the Cleveland Browns, is the longtime Pilot president. His name came up several times in the first trial concerning whether he had knowledge of a widespread fraud on commissions owed to trucking firms. However, he was not charged.
Defense attorneys said, "We note that, for various reasons, the retrial will focus much more on members of the Haslam family than in the original trial. Since remand, we have discovered connections between the Court and Governor Haslam: for example, on October 28, 2014, Governor Haslam was the keynote speaker at an Urban League of Greater Chattanooga’s “Opportunity Day” breakfast at which the Court was honored, and at which Governor Haslam and the Court were photographed together, and, on January 12, 2012, Governor Haslam and the Court attended a ceremony together, at which the Court administered the oath of office to Debra C. Poplin as Clerk of the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee, for whom Governor Haslam apparently served as a reference. We respectfully request that the Court consider whether any relationship or connection between the Court and Governor Haslam merits recusal."
Hazelwood is now represented by attorneys Jim Walden and Bradley Henry of New York City and Robert Cary of Washington, D.c.