Judge won’t step aside from trial in GOP official’s slaying

WEST CHESTER (AP) — A judge has declined to step aside from the trial of a neighbor charged in the shooting death of a Republican official outside Philadelphia last year.

Fifty-two-year-old Clayton Carter III of West Goshen Township is charged in the death of 51-year-old Brooks Jennings in August 2017.

The Daily Local News of West Chester reports that defense attorney Joseph Green had cited political overtones in the case. Prosecutors say they don’t think politics was much of a factor although Carter was a GOP committeeman and the defendant’s yard had anti-Trump signs.

Police say the men argued over a spotlight Jennings had trained on his car parked in front of Carter’s house. Carter said he fired after Jennings threatened him with a knife. Police cited Carter’s “history of disputes” with multiple neighbors.