KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – Another judge has recused himself from handling the case of a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper who is charged in the drowning of a handcuffed Iowa man. The Kansas City Star reports Morgan County Circuit Judge Stan Moore announced the decision Monday without explanation during a hearing for Anthony Piercy. Moore is the third judge to recuse himself, an action that will delay the case.

Piercy was charged last year with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Brandon Ellingson, an Arizona State University student from suburban Des Moines. The 20-year-old went into the water in 2014 as Piercy was transporting him from the Lake of the Ozarks on suspicion of boating while intoxicated. Witnesses have said that Ellingson was wearing an improperly secured life jacket that slipped off.