A Suffolk County judge involved in the Martin Tankleff case agreed to recuse himself from the proceedings to avoid any appearance of impropriety.

Suffolk County Court Judge James Hudson was presiding over a grand jury considering evidence in the case. Tankleff was convicted in 1990 for the killing of his parents. The conviction was overturned in 2007 and the case is now in the hands of the state attorney general.

Hudson was a supervisor in the Suffolk County District Attorney?s Office in the 1980s when the office was dealing with the original Tankleff case. While Hudson says he had nothing to do with the case back then, he stepped aside to make sure any conflict of interest did not present itself.

Tankleff?s defense attorneys say Hudson made the right decision for the right reasons.