Website judge dropped from trial

Mr Kozinski said he did not believe the images on his site were obscene

A US judge has removed himself from an obscenity trial he was overseeing after it emerged that his own website featured sexually explicit images.

Federal appeals court judge Alex Kozinski, 57, earlier suspended the trial of a businessman accused of distributing obscene videos.

Mr Kozinski said he was not aware the explicit photographs and videos on his website could be seen by the public.

Public access to his site has since been blocked.

Mr Kozinski is a high-ranking and highly respected judge, and is chief judge of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

He has declared a mistrial and asked for the case to be reassigned to a different judge.