Crime

Building Case of Alleged Web of Conflicts of Interest, Stephanie Barnes Demands Recusal of Judge Molloy, New Trial

Stephanie Barnes, recently convicted on three federal charges has filed a motion seeking the removal of Judge Robert Molloy from her case, claiming that she wasn't afforded a fair trial because of Judge Molloy's alleged circle of close friends — among them Ms. Barnes's co-conspirator Violet Anne Golden, Governor Albert Bryan, Attorney Kye Walker and Superior Court Judge Jessica Gallivan. Ms. Barnes said those relationships and others influenced the case's outcome, and she is therefore "demanding a new trial" with another judge untied to what she alleges is the judge's web of connections that were disadvantageous to her case. The motion, filed Wednesday, claims that Judge Molloy and Ms. Golden are very close friends. "Violet Anne Golden and the entire Golden family are close and personal friends with Judge Molloy and his entire family, and have been so before Judge Molloy was born," said Ms. Barnes, claiming that those words came from Ms. Golden. The judge, she claimed, emphatically d...