Overview
- The high court granted Spencer’s emergency petition and removed Circuit Judge Barbara Elmore without detailing its reasoning, noting three justices would have denied relief.
- Proceedings are paused until a special judge is appointed after Elmore had earlier moved the trial to Feb. 2 because of winter weather.
- Spencer’s filing argued Elmore’s 55-person cap on attendance and prohibition on recording devices effectively closed the courtroom to the public.
- The Supreme Court previously lifted Elmore’s December 2024 gag order in May 2025 as overly broad, with at least one justice at that time favoring her replacement.
- Aaron Spencer is charged with second-degree murder in the Oct. 8, 2024 killing of Michael Fosler, while asserting self-defense as Fosler awaited trial on multiple child-sex-crime counts that the defense says involved Spencer’s daughter.