The judge who granted Charles Bediako a temporary restraining order allowing him to return to Alabama basketball may be taken off of the case.
Judge James “Jim” Roberts was asked to recuse himself in a motion filed by the NCAA on Monday, Jan. 26, as first reported by Al.com.
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The Crimson Tide Foundation lists Roberts as an active “Circle” level donor to the Lifetime Giving Society, meaning he donates anywhere from $100,000 to $249,999 to the University of Alabama.
According to court documents obtained by The Tuscaloosa News, the NCAA cited that it was filing the motion because of “external circumstances that could give the appearance of partiality.”
MORE TO KNOW: Why was TRO extended for Alabama basketball center Charles Bediako?
The NCAA didn’t claim that “any actual bias motivated the Court’s granting of a temporary restraining order,” but “contends that proceeding in this Court has created an impermissible appearance of impropriety because of the intense media scrutiny and public speculation surrounding the Court’s relationship with the University of Alabama and its athletics programs and student-athletes.”
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Judge Roberts has also been criticized due to his marriage to Mary Turner Roberts, who is the defense attorney in the murder trial surrounding former Alabama basketball player Darius Miles.
“In the few days since the TRO’s entry, a range of media publications — those national, local, and hyper-local — have already questioned this Court’s impartiality because of its financial and family ties to the University of Alabama athletics programs and to the basketball program, specifically.” the motion read, noting that many articles highlighted that “similar circumstances” led to the recusal of the trial court judge assigned to the case of Duke quarterback Darian Mensah.
The motion also included multiple screengrabs from anonymous commenters on Reddit. Arguments listed in the motion included “Intense Media Scrutiny of the Court’s Impartiality Is a Compelling and Sufficient Basis for Recusal” and “Even Indirect Financial Ties to a Party Require Recusal.”
“Despite the NCAA’s confidence that the Court can disregard his connections to the University of Alabama and its athletics programs, recusal is still necessary to protect these proceedings from an appearance of impropriety,” the motion read.
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Judge Roberts denied comment to Front Office Sports on his status as a UA donor. He extended Bediako’s temporary restraining order by ten days on Jan. 26 due to inclement weather preventing an NCAA attorney from traveling to Tuscaloosa for the originally scheduled injunction hearing on Jan. 27.
Bediako’s case will continue on a date that has yet to be determined.
Emilee Smarr covers Alabama basketball and Crimson Tide athletics for The Tuscaloosa News. She can be reached via email at esmarr@usatodayco.com.
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This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Why NCAA requested for Charles Bediako judge to recuse himself
