FARMINGTON — Second District Judge Glen Dawson has ruled there is no legal reason to remove the judge presiding over the case of Angela Ray Andrews, who is charged with murdering her 10-year-old stepdaughter, Shelby.
Lawyers for Angela Andrews had filed a motion with the court asking that 2nd District Judge Michael Allphin be disqualified from her case because Allphin presided over her husband's case and made "harsh" statements at the sentencing.
Those statements, according to Angela Andrews, rendered the judge incapable of providing due process for her because he would not be able "to evaluate defendant's conduct as different from from that of (Mr. Andrews) in any sentencing proceedings."
Angela, 36, and Ryan William Andrews, 39, were charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse of a child, both first-degree felonies, after police found Shelby's battered body in the couple's Syracuse home on Aug. 1, 2006.
Ryan Andrews pleaded guilty to the murder charge and was sentenced by Allphin to 15-years-to-life in prison. At the Jan. 22 sentencing, the judge said he regretted not being able to add more years to the prison term.
"The crime you have committed is shocking and terrible, and I believe you are a danger to society," Allphin told Ryan Andrews. "I will recommend to the Board of Pardons that you spend the rest of your natural life in prison and have no parole."
Ryan Andrews gave prosecutors a written confession that outlined grotesque abuse that he and Angela inflicted upon the child for a period of time. When she died, Shelby had been locked in a too-small space in a closet while the couple watched television, despite the girl crying out that she could not breathe and was choking on her own vomit.
Ryan Andrews also wrote that on previous occasions Angela had forced Shelby to eat her own feces, beat the child in the vaginal area with a spray can and repeatedly slammed her head into the stairs.
In his four-page ruling, Dawson wrote that Angela Andrews has not shown a "colorable claim of bias, prejudice or conflict of interest," which Utah law requires to get a judge removed from a case.
In fact, Angela Andrews has not only failed to establish but has not even offered any facts that would lead to a reasonable conclusion that Allphin might be biased, prejudiced or have a conflict of interest against her, Dawson wrote.
"Defendant has failed to demonstrate how the fact that Judge Allphin was disappointed in Mr. Andrews' actions will bias him toward defendant," the ruling stated. "Specifically, some of the facts with which Judge Allphin expressed dissatisfaction are facts that would and could not apply to defendant.
"For example, Judge Allphin indicated he was surprised that Mr. Andrews could do what he did to his own 'flesh and blood.' However, Shelby (the victim) was not defendant's 'flesh and blood.' The fact of the matter is, each sentencing decision is unique and individually tailored; Judge Allphin's remarks toward Mr. Andrews do not demonstrate that he is in any way biased against defendant," the ruling said.
Angela Andrews is in the Davis County Jail on $500,000 bail while her case is pending.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com