The nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Richard Vanecko was indicted by a Cook County special grand jury last week in the death of David Koschman, who died after he fell and struck his head outside a Chicago bar in 2004.

Vanecko was only in court briefly Monday morning, where he was randomly assigned to Associate Judge Arthur Hill Jr.  Hill said he wanted it on the record that he served under Richard M. Daley when he was Cook County State’s Attorney, and when Daley was mayor, he appointed Hill to the Chicago Transit Authority board. 

Judge Hill said he wasn’t going to recuse himself from the case, saying he could be “fair and impartial.” But he added if the lawyers asked him to step aside, he would. 

Vanecko’s lawyer Tom Breen wouldn’t answer questions on the case, and only said this about Judge Hill: “He’s a wonderful man with a lot of experience.”

Both parties are scheduled to come together in front of Judge Hill next Monday.

Susie An contributed to this report.