COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The murder trial of Dr. William Husel has been stalled for a week, and now the possible reason is coming to light.

The Ohio Supreme Court confirmed Thursday that it has received an affidavit of disqualification to have Judge Michael Holbrook removed from presiding over the case.

The affidavit was filed along with a motion to seal it, keeping its contents secret for the time. It is not known who filed the request or the reasoning for it.

There has been no public movement in the trial against Husel — accused in the deaths of 14 patients under his care at the former Mount Carmel West hospital from 2015 to ’18 — since last Thursday, a day after the defense rested. Closing arguments would be the next step before jury instructions and then deliberations.

Closing arguments are scheduled to begin Monday after originally being scheduled for this week and postponed multiple times.

The trial began in February in Franklin County Common Pleas Court under Holbrook. Prosecutors called 53 witnesses to detail how Husel ordered potentially lethal amounts of drugs to ICU patients, and then defense attorneys called just one, to discuss the concept of comfort care.

The prosecutor’s office had no comment on the affidavit.

Timeline of case