SAN FRANCISCO — Don’t even think about asking Judge Susan Graber to recuse herself from murder cases.

On Friday, Graber denied the Arizona federal public defender’s motion to recuse her from the death penalty case Miles v. Ryan, 12 C.D.O.S. 9735, on the ground that the crime bears resemblance to the 1974 murder of Graber’s father. Two of Graber’s Ninth Circuit colleagues then scolded the office for raising an “inappropriate” motion that forced the judge to relive a tragic incident in her life.