INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — The defense attorney representing now-graduated Sebastian River High School student Kaitlyn Hunt is calling for Judge Robert Pegg’s removal from the case citing concerns that he is no longer an impartial party.
Vero Beach attorney A. Julia Graves filed the motion after 4 p.m. Monday and has not yet received a response from the court, she confirmed Monday night.
In the motion, Judge Pegg is described as “prejudiced” and “biased” against the 18-year-old student who is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old female schoolmate.
Hunt faces two felony charges of lewd and lascivious battery on a child between the ages of 12 and 16, which carry a maximum 15-year sentence each.
The judge “has departed from his role as a neutral and impartial trier of fact,” the motion reads.
Attorney Graves points to several issues that, according to her, support her request to have Judge Pegg removed. One such issue is that her office was not notified of the Sept. 9, 2013, trial start date – a date she learned of from a report on VeroNews.com, according to the motion.
Graves raises the issue that Hunt’s case has been singled out from the other pending cases before Judge Pegg – that her case will not be granted continuances “except upon exceptional circumstances” while other cases are allowed frequent continuances.
“This case is being singled out by the State due to the fact the relationship involved was between two girls attending high school together,” the motion reads. “Now Judge Robert L. Pegg is following the State of Florida and pushing this case forward above all others demonstrating that he is also singling this case out above all others due to the relationship being between two girls. Otherwise there is nothing unique about this matter.”
The motion further states, “Clearly the Judge Robert L. Pegg as the Court has already sided with the State of Florida and departed from his role as a neutral and impartial trier of fact.”
According to the motion, Hunt fears that she won’t be able to receive a fair trial if Judge Pegg were to remain.
Graves’s motion calls for the trial judge to make a ruling on the request to remove Judge Pegg from presiding over the pre-trial proceedings.
