Posted Thursday, April 30, 2009 --- 9:30 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- The Wisconsin Supreme Court says a judge erred when he allowed his own mother to be a juror in a criminal case he heard.

The court says Ashland County Judge Robert Eaton should have removed his mother from the juror pool because of the potential for bias. Justices say Eaton was mistaken in believing he did not have the legal authority to do so.

Eaton's mother was one of the jurors who convicted Mark Tody Jr. in 2006 for being a party to operating a vehicle without the owner's consent.

The high court overturned Tody's conviction on Thursday and ordered a new trial. Justices say having Eaton's mother on the jury was "so fraught with the possibility of bias" that it violated Tody's right to a fair trial.

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