Fulton judge recuses himself from Callaway case

A Fulton County judge has recused himself from a case involving a defendant accused of smothering his baby at Scottish Rite Children's Hospital in March 2007.

In an order issued Monday, Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall said another judge should be assigned the case. He said he no longer has faith in the representations of defendant Michael Callaway's defense lawyer or his parents. Last week, Schwall ordered Callaway, who was staying at Atlanta Medical Center because he had become suicidal, to be committed to the state mental hospital.

At a recent hearing, Schwall expressed frustration that Callaway, 31, had been granted visitation rights to see his now 3-year-old son, who lives with Callaway's parents in Blairsville. Schwall said that when he allowed Callaway to be released on bond he expected him to have no contact with his child and did not know Callaway had pleaded guilty to theft charges in Gilmer County and had been arrested for DUI. Callaway was previously found mentally incompetent to stand trial, but Schwall has ordered him to be reevaluated when he is admitted into Georgia Regional Hospital.