R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has stepped down from jury service in Georgia because he couldn’t treat the case of an alleged stalker fairly.

The Everybody Hurts hitmaker was due to sit on a trial for a man accused of sneaking into a middle school and trying to sexually assault a girl.

But Stipe told Clarke County Superior Court Judge Lawton Stephens he could not be fair and impartial in the case because he has been the target of stalkers and death threats.

Fifteen other potential jurors were dismissed after confessing they had already made up their minds about the verdict.