DAVID S. HEIER, PETITIONER,
v.
J. LEONARD FLEET, AS CIRCUIT JUDGE OF THE 17TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT, RESPONDENT
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 held that a verified motion for disqualification must contain an actual factual foundation for the alleged fear of prejudice, and adverse rulings alone are insufficient grounds.
Petitioner sought a writ of prohibition to disqualify a judge, alleging fear of prejudice based on judicial rulings and allegedly defamatory remarks.…
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 Well-Founded Fear Of Unfair Trial cases and more on FLexlaw
PER CURIAM.
The petition for writ of prohibition to prohibit respondent from hearing petitioner’s case is denied as the motion was legally insufficient.
A verified motion for disqualification of a judge must contain an actual factual foundation for petitioner’s alleged fear of prejudice. The facts asserted by a petitioner in a motion to disqualify a judge must be reasonably sufficient to create a well-founded fear in the mind of the party that he or she will not receive a fair trial. Fischer v. Knuck, 497 So. 2d 240, 242 (Fla.1986). The standard to be applied by the judge is whether a reasonably prudent person would, on the basis of the stated facts, fear that he or she cannot get a fair trial with this judge presiding. E.g., Jernigan v. State, 608 So. 2d 569 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992). Adverse judicial rulings are not a proper basis for disqualification of the judge. E.g., Jackson v. State, 599 So. 2d 108 (Fla.), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 113 S.Ct. 612, 121 L.Ed.2d 546 (1992).
Here petitioner’s allegations lack specificity and go almost entirely to judicial rulings of the judge. Regarding the one issue raised regarding alleged defamatory remarks made by the judge, which appears not to concern directly a judicial ruling, petitioner fails to say what remarks the judge has made about him, and is not sufficiently explicit about the circumstances in which they were made.
The judge correctly denied the motion for disqualification. Petitioner has failed to make an adequate preliminary case for a writ of prohibition. •
HERSEY, STONE and WARNER, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Williams v. State, 689 So. 2d 393 (Fla. 3d DCA 1997)…So. 2d at 107; Provenzano v. State, 616 So. 2d 428, 432 (Fla.1993); Gilliam v. State, 582 So. 2d 610, 611 (Fla.1991); Tafero v. State, 403 So. 2d 355, 361 (Fla.1981), cert. denied, 455 U.S. 983, 102 S.Ct. 1492, 71 L.Ed.2d 694 (1982); Heier v. Fleet, 642 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). Furthermore, it is within the province of the court to interject itself, without objection, albeit rarely, into voir dire examination concerning counsel’s questions or comments. Brown v. State, 678 So. 2d 910, 913 (Fla. 4th DCA…
-
Soulaymane Cherradi v. The Honorable Robert Lance Andrews, 669 So. 2d 326 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)…DCA 1994). Just as adverse judicial rulings do not form a proper basis for disqualification, an expressed intent to appeal the judge’s rulings likewise does not form a basis for disqualification of a judge on the grounds of bias. See Heier v. Fleet, 642 So. 2d 669, 670 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994). Nor does a party’s expressed intent to file a complaint with the JQC in itself constitute a legally sufficient ground for recusal. The recently amended commentary to Canon 3E(1) of the Code of Judicial Conduct states that a…
-
D.H. v. Dep't of Child. & Families, 12 So. 3d 266 (Fla. 1st DCA 2009)…ilty plea was not required to disqualify himself as a material witness when the accused later petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus seeking specific enforcement of the plea bargain); Jackson v. State, 599 So. 2d 103, 107 (Fla.1992); Heier v. Fleet, 642 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994); K.H. v. Dep’t of Health & Rehabilitative Servs., 527 So. 2d 230, 232 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988) (recognizing the well-established principle that “adverse judicial rulings do not constitute sufficient grounds to disqualify a judge” and…
Previewing 3 of 5 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Anne Marie Fischer v. Honorable Francis X. Knuck, 497 So. 2d 240 (Fla. 1986)
- Jernigan v. State, 608 So. 2d 569 (Fla. 1st DCA 1992)