So many legal quarrels before trial have to do with the calendar.

Attorneys often argue they have had too narrow a window to examine evidence, secure the appearance of witnesses or otherwise prepare.

Attorneys who represent a man indicted on capital murder in the death of a 2-year-old girl in Arlington filed this week a motion that alleges state District Judge David Hagerman ruled improperly on matters related to time. They argue his rulings suggest the judge’s impartiality may reasonably be questioned, the standard for recusal.

The defendant’s attorneys filed a motion that seeks the end of Hagerman’s involvement in the case.

It is the second case in five weeks in which a defendant’s counsel has sought the recusal of Hagerman, who presides in 297th District Court in Tarrant County.

The first was a successful effort in the case of defendant Aaron Dean, who in 2019, as a police officer in Fort Worth, shot to death Atatiana Jefferson through a window at her house and was indicted on murder. The matter, which focused on Hagerman’s temperament in addressing an attorney who represents Dean and his rulings on trial scheduling, was transferred up two courthouse floors to a different judge.

On Monday, as the capital murder trial for Derick Roberson was to begin, his attorneys, Michael Campbell Jr., Andrew Wilkerson and Shehzad Shaikh, filed a motion that describes nine acts that they argue merit Hagerman’s recusal.

As he did in the Dean case, Hagerman declined to voluntarily recuse himself, and an order on the matter will be left to Senior District Judge Everett Young, who will hold a hearing on the motion on July 29. David Evans, the presiding judge of the Eighth Administrative Judicial Region of Texas, assigned the decision to Young.

A key difference in the recusal motions in the Dean and Roberson cases is the length of time between when they were filed and when the defendant’s trial was to begin. Roberson’s filing fewer than 10 days before the trial is permitted under state rules of civil procedure, his defense team argues, because the grounds that exist for Hagerman’s recusal did not emerge until a pretrial hearing held on the last weekday before the trial was to begin.

Campbell, Wilkerson and Shaikh allege in the recusal motion that:

• Hagerman improperly allowed the state to turn over 28 pieces of evidence favorable to Roberson one weekday before the trial was to begin.
• Hagerman waited until the day before trial to require the state to turn over contact information for a witness and allowed the defense attorneys no time to reach the witness before trial.
• Hagerman held a critical pretrial hearing on the case one weekday before the trial and gave the defense attorneys inadequate time to inspect physical evidence.
• After the June 23 killing in Garland of a defense investigator who was working as a bounty hunter, Hagerman appointed another investigator and allowed him 11 days to serve subpoenas to witnesses and conduct a full investigation.
• Hagerman denied defense motions on matters he has granted “numerous times” for other defense attorneys and denied multiple motions for continuance filed by the defense in the Roberson case.

Hagerman‘s actions and conduct suggest “extreme bias and prejudice toward the defense,” Campbell, Wilkerson and Shaikh wrote in the motion.

On July 12, “Hagerman physically put his fingers in his ears while defense counsel Michael Campbell was still talking” to the judge, the motion states.

The state has not filed a response to the recusal motion.

With Shamonica Jackson, Roberson had custody of a toddler, Aniyah Darnell, from August 2018 until her death on Nov. 17, 2018, prosecutors said.

Roberson, 42, is accused of capital murder in the girl’s death, which police have said occurred after Jackson struck her repeatedly with a belt.

Jackson told police she had grown frustrated with the child for going to the bathroom in her clothes. Jackson hit the child with a belt and her hand to teach the girl “a lesson,” according to an affidavit written by a police officer that supported an arrest warrant.

Jackson told police Aniyah had a burn on her rear. Jackson tried home remedies to treat the injury and continued to discipline the girl by hitting her, according to the affidavit.

The girl was beaten at the Las Lomas Apartments in the 800 block of Timberlake Drive in southeast Arlington and died in a hospital emergency room.

Jackson, 37, was also indicted on capital murder, and it appears her trial will occur after Roberson’s.

A Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office forensic pathologist determined Aniyah’s death was a homicide and its cause was battered child with dehydration.

During the period in which they had custody of Aniyah, Roberson was aware that Jackson repeatedly struck the girl, and gave her a bath that caused severe burns to her buttocks and foot, prosecutors allege.

Roberson failed to intervene in the physical abuse that Jackson inflicted on Aniyah, prosecutors allege.

After the belt beating, Roberson did not seek medical attention for the girl and did not perform CPR on her, prosecutors allege.

The state is not seeking the death penalty in the Roberson and Jackson cases.