MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A judge removed himself from the Young Dolph murder case Friday after he was ordered to do so by a Tennessee appeals court, which questioned whether he could be impartial to a man charged with killing the rapper two years ago. Shelby County Criminal Court Judge Lee Coffee asked the court clerk to assign a new judge in the high-profile case. Johnson and Cornelius Smith have pleaded not guilty in the killing of Young Dolph, whose real name was Adolph Thornton Jr. Coffee said he made the call “in court, on the bench, with another case before the Court,” according to the appeal ruling. The appeals court reversed Coffee's denial of the recusal motion and said that a new judge should be reassigned.

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Persons: —, Young Dolph, Lee Coffee, Coffee, Justin Johnson, Luke Evans, Evans, Johnson, Cornelius Smith, Adolph Thornton Jr, Smith, Hernandez Govan, Coffee’s recusal Organizations: Tennessee, Defendant Locations: MEMPHIS, Tenn, Tennessee, Shelby, Memphis