A judge’s efforts to punish three prosecutors and bar them from continuing to prosecute a former state trooper charged in a fatal car crash has led to a legal brawl over whether the judge is exceeding his authority.

Attorneys for Carroll Circuit District Attorney Herb Cranford and two assistant DAs say that Carroll County Superior Court Chief Judge John Simpson repeatedly stepped out of legal and ethical bounds by launching his own criminal inquiry into the prosecutors, by filing bar complaints against them and by ordering the DA to disqualify his office from any further involvement in the prosecution of former Georgia state trooper Anthony “A.J.” Scott. All the while, Simpson has remained on the case, denying prosecutors’ claims that he is no longer impartial and should step down.