Judge removed from Florida rapper Foolio’s murder case
Florida rapper Foolio lost his life in 2024 after he was shot and killed. Now, the judge presiding over the case has been disqualified.
Alicia Andrews was found guilty of manslaughter in October, but her lawyer, Jeremy McLymont, requested a delayed sentencing due to Judge Michelle Sisco’s alleged “hostile comments” and “obvious bias.”
According to Legal Affairs and Trials, Chief Judge Christopher Sabella has been ordered to appoint a new judge “immediately.”
McLymont said, “Everyone is entitled to a fair trial, including Ms Andrews. We are convinced that a new trial should and will be granted after some litigation at the trial and or appellate level.”
His petition to remove the judge from the case was backed by video clips, which “helped immensely” with his claims.
“You could never capture the mannerisms, the tone etc. through a transcript,” he said. “It would have been harder with a transcript, but it has been done before.”
McLymont claimed that Sisco failed to act with “cold neutrality” and “did everything in its power to ensure that Ms Andrews was convicted” by humiliating her legal team and treating the defence’s witnesses more harshly than prosecution witnesses.
He added, “Ms Andrews maintains that she has a reasonable fear that the trial court has abandoned its role to be an impartial arbiter. Ms Andrews’ fear is confirmed by thousands of people who watched the trial online.”
Andrews was the first of five defendants to be tried for the rapper’s murder; others include her boyfriend, Isaiah Chance.
Foolio died at the age of 26. He was shot in a hotel car park in Tampa, Florida. Three others were injured but survived the attack.