the source says that judge beverly woodard told of the attorneys involved behind closed doors that not only was she previously married to prince george's county police officer, but that that officer had been convicted of using excessive force. it prompted a three-hour delay in the case and ultimately ended with the jury being sent home early. reginald baker and james harrison are accused of beating university of maryland student john mckenna during a riot situation after maryland beat duquesne basketball back on march 3, 2010. -- after maryland beat duke in basketball. both men claim that mckenna had startled amounted officers course and was the aggressor. harrison said he swung at mckenna 7-8 times and struck the pavement twice while doing so. he said he's won so many times because mckenna refused to drop his cellphone and not show his hands. when the police department lost an internal investigation, he initially lied to investigators, telling them he had nothing to do with it, but then recanted his story a few days later. sources tell me the issue should be resolved by tomorrow, so t

a law enforcement source tells fox 5 judge beverly woodard met in chambers with prosecutors and defense after a reporter discovered the judge had been previously married to a police officer who was convicted of excessive force. the reporter wanted to know why the judge didn't recuse herself. she explained to the lawyer she believed she could oversee a case in a fair and impartial way and so the trial is continuing. as fox 5's paul wagner reports, earlier today one of the officers took the stand in his own defense. >> reporter: under questioning from his defense attorney officer james harrison said he first saw john mckenna about 45 seconds before his co-defendant officer reginald baker hit the student with his shield sending hill into a wall. harrison told the court he saw mckenna hit baker on his helmet while holding a cell phone in his hand. he was concerned about his cell phone because he'd received bulletins saying that firearms could be disguised as cell phones. harrison said he told mckenna to drop it and hit him seven to eight times. did you strike him in the head asked his defen

closing arguments are now delayed after a question about the ability of judge beverly woodard to be fair. news4 has learned from the state's attorney's office that judge woodard was formerly married to a prince george's county police officer who was convicted of using excessive force. after a closed-door meeting this afternoon with the prosecution and the defense, judge woodard said she felt comfortable with the trial continuing. just yesterday the most serious charges against the two police officers accused in the beating of then student jack mckenna were dismissed. chris gordon will have much more coming up at 5:00 tonight. >>> new details in the foiled terrorist plot in new york. 21-year-old quazi nafis is accused of trying to blow up the federal reserve building there. how new york officials are responding to the plot. keith? >> hey, pat. even though authorities say nafis did not achieve his mission to blow up the federal reserve building, the question becomes, how do you prevent others from thinking they can pull off an act of terrorism in this country. the 21-year-old nafis came to

i only see strikes from the neck down, said judge beverly woodard. that's the problem, she told the prosecutor. the judge ruled that there is insufficient proof that the officers intended to inflict serious and permanent injury, which are the legal requirements of the charge of assault in the first degree. student john mckenna was treated for a concussion, and cuts after the incident, but wasn't admitted to the hospital that night. three days later he complained of dizziness and went to an emergency room. the judge left the courtroom to check the law, and returned to rule that the injuries were not proven to be both serious and permanent. >> the judge did dismiss the most serus charge. >> what do you make of it? >> no further comment. we're still in trial. >> any count that gets thrown out is a good count. >> reporter: the defendants now face the less serious charges of misconduct and second-degree assault. in court, with his helmet, shield and baton, corporal baker answered one of his lawyer's questions about that night. i'm afraid, he said, but we

a reporter covering their trial sent a note to judge beverly woodard asking if she could be fair and if she had disclosed to the lawyers in the case that she had been married to a former police officer. that prompted prosecutors and defense lawyers to meet with the judge behind closed doors. a source close to the lawyers in this case says the judge was married to a former prince george's county police officer who was accused of, and convicted of use of excessive force. the judge ruled that she can be fair and ordered the trial to continue. neither the prosecutors nor defense lawyers asked for a mistrial. the judge did not mention the matter in open court and sent the jurors home for the day, with her usual admonition not to watch news coverage or read anything about the case. earlier today, here's what happened in court. james harrison, one of two police officers on trial for assault and misconduct testified that he saw student john mckenna throw a bunch at baker, who used a shield and baton to protect hi himself. harrison hit mckenna seven or eight times yelling drop it. harrison sa

a reporter covering their trial sent a note to judge beverly woodard asking if she could be fair and if she had disclosed to the lawyers in the case that she had been married to a former police officer. that prompted prosecutors and defense lawyers to meet with the judge behind closed doors. a source close to the lawyers in this case says the judge was married to a former prince george's county police officer, who was accused of, and convicted of use of excessive force. the judge ruled that she can be fair and ordered the trial to continue. neither the prosecutors nor defense lawyers asked for a mistrial. the judge did not mention the matter in open court and sent the jurors home for the day, with her usual admonition not to watch news coverage, or read anything about the case. another development in this case, for the second day in a row, one of the prince george's county police officers in the trial testified in his own defense, james harrison today. he said he struck the student seven or eight times to subdue him. he said james mckenna was running at police lines, threw a punch an

the reason being, a local reporter decided to look into the background of judge beverly woodard and discovered that several years ago she was married to a police officer who had been convicted of excessive force. the reporter wanted to know why the judge had not recused herself since this is a trial about excessive force. the judge then asked for a meeting with the prosecution and the defense. according to the source, there was a meeting in the judge's chambers. this lasted for quite some time after the lunch hour. we understand from our source that the judge said she didn't want to recuse herself. she felt she could be a fair and impartial, the defense didn't want a mistrial, and the prosecution felt that if they accepted a mistrial, then there could be double jeopardy and they would not be able to retry the officers. at this hour, the trial will continue tomorrow with closing arguments. now, earlier today, the codefendant in this case, james harrison, took the stand in his own defense. under questioning from his defense attorney, officer james harrison said he first saw john mckenna about 45

judge beverly woodard was siding with the prosecution, but backtracked after looking at the statute,cess and hearing the state's argument a second time. the judge said she was dismissing the most serious charge because there was no evidence john mckenna had suffered a permanent injury and the video shown to the injury did not show the officers striking mckenna in the head. prosecutor, joseph, said mckenna had a concussion and a serious laceration to the head. the officers appeared to strike him in the head and the injury could be viewed as permanent. but judge woodard said based on the video shown to the jury, she wasn't buying it. the defense attorneys were pleased. >> anything that gets put out is good. >> baker testified he was hyper vigilant as he walked up knox road. earlier in the evening, he and his fellow officers were pelted by snowballs, rocks, and bottles. baker told the court he thought his supervisors had done that. in upper marlboro, paul wagner, fox 5 news. >> baker and james harrison are still facing charges of second-degree assault and misconduct in office. the trial