SAN FRANCISCO (Legal Newsline)-A federal appeals court judge who last week recused himself from an obscenity case after admitting he had sexually explicit material on his personal Web site has called for an investigation into his conduct.

Alex Kozinski, the chief judge of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, has asked a court ethics panel to initiate the proceedings after it was reported by the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday that he had posted lewd images and photos to his Internet site.

"I will cooperate fully in any investigation," Kozinski said in a statement.

He also asked United States Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. to assign the case to a panel of jurists outside of the nine Western states of the 9th Circuit.

Kozinski was presiding over a closely watched obscenity trial in Los Angeles when the Times reported the site.

In the case, the federal government is prosecuting filmmaker Ira Isaacs, 57, for importation or transportation of obscene material for sale.

The judge was appointed to the court by President Ronald Reagan in 1985. He is considered by many legal observers a judicial conservative on most issues.

From Legal Newsline: Reach reporter Chris Rizo by e-mail at chrisrizo@legalnewsline.com.