BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Supreme Court overturned the recusal of a judge who was taken off the trial of a man accused of raping Madison Brooks. 

Judge Gail Horne Ray was recused last fall after a series of text messages emerged in which Casen Carver, a man accused of raping Brooks, described her as "on our side" and someone who "knows how to help us."

The 1st Circuit Court of Appeal previously said the judge's rulings in the case and her exposure to allegedly prejudicial information about Brooks' sexual history wouldn't justify recusal, but leaving her off the case was still the best way forward.

"Writ granted," the Supreme Court wrote in its ruling. "We find that the State has failed to carry its burden to require recusal in this case. The ruling of the trial court is reversed and the matter is remanded for further proceedings."