CHRISTIAN ALEXIS MEZA MANZANARES
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA
AI-generated. These summaries, headnotes, and key points are machine-generated and may contain errors or omissions. Always verify against the full opinion text below. Not legal advice.
The court dismissed the petition for writ of prohibition without addressing the merits.
[1] A judge's inflexible sentencing policy may constitute a basis for disqualification under Florida law.
[2] A judge exceeds the proper scope of inquiry and establishes grounds for disqualification when the judge attempts to refute charges of partiality rather than merely addres…
Previewing 2 of 2 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“When a judge has looked beyond the mere legal sufficiency of a suggestion of prejudice and attempted to refute the charges of partiality, he has then exceeded the proper scope of his inquiry and on that basis alone established grounds for his disqualification.”
Dissent citing Bundy v. Rudd as a potential ground for disqualification
Petitioner sought a writ of prohibition to disqualify the county court judge presiding over his criminal traffic case, alleging the judge had an infle…
The full statement of facts, procedural history, and disposition for this case are member content.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence© FLexlaw, Inc. — AI-generated enrichments are proprietary. All rights reserved.
Explore caselaw by topic → Browse Judicial Disqualification cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
DISMISSED. M.K. THOMAS and TANENBAUM, JJ., concur; BILBREY, J., dissents with opinion.
_____________________________
Not final until disposition of any timely and authorized motion under Fla. R. App. P. 9.330 or 9.331. _____________________________
BILBREY, J., dissenting.
Petitioner has sought a writ of prohibition to disqualify the county court judge presiding in his criminal traffic case. I would issue an order to show cause directing the State to respond to the petition and respectfully dissent from the denial of the petition. See Fla. R. App. P. 9.100(h) (allowing an appellate court to direct a response when “the petition demonstrates a preliminary basis for relief”). The petition alleges that the county judge has an inflexible sentencing policy, which can be a basis to disqualify a trial judge. See Dunlevy v. State, 201 So. 3d 733, 736 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016). The petition also states another potential ground for disqualification. See Bundy v. Rudd, 366 So. 2d 440, 442 (Fla. 1978) (“When a judge has looked beyond the mere legal sufficiency of a suggestion of prejudice and attempted to refute the charges of partiality, he has then exceeded the proper scope of his inquiry and on that basis alone established grounds for his disqualification.”).
_____________________________
Jessica J. Yeary, Public Defender, and John J. Knowles, First Assistant Public Defender, Tallahassee, for Petitioner. Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Robert “Charlie” Lee, Assistant Attorney General, Tallahassee, for Respondent.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- THE Florida BAR v. Sanford Freed, 366 So. 2d 440 (Fla. 1978)
- Dunlevy v. State, 201 So. 3d 733 (Fla. 4th DCA 2016)