MANASSAS, Va. (AP) - A judge won't remove a special prosecutor from the retrial of a former death-row inmate whose conviction and sentence were overturned by a federal court.

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Attorneys for Justin Wolfe argued that the special prosecutor, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney Ray Morrogh, would be motivated to vindicate his friend and fellow prosecutor, Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert.

It was Ebert who originally convicted Wolfe and sent him to death row for the murder of fellow drug dealer Daniel Petrole. But a federal court overturned Wolfe's conviction and accused Ebert of prosecutorial misconduct.

Judge Mary Grace O'Brien ruled Monday that the defense did not present sufficient evidence to show Morrogh should be disqualified or that his independence as a prosecutor is compromised.