FORT MEADE, Maryland (AP) — A newly appointed U.S. military judge refused on Monday to step down from the case of the Guantanamo Bay detainee accused of orchestrating the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen, dismissing defense arguments about possible conflicts stemming from an earlier case.

Air Force Col. Vance Spath said a 2005 case he prosecuted has no bearing on his thinking in the current case.