SOULAYMANE CHERRADI, PETITIONER,
v.
THE HONORABLE ROBERT LANCE ANDREWS, 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.
A husband petitioned to prohibit a trial judge from presiding over further dissolution proceedings, seeking a writ of prohibition. The court denied the petition, finding that most grounds for disqualification were untimely and the remaining timely grounds were legally insufficient.
The court denied the writ of prohibition, holding that most grounds for disqualification were untimely under Florida Rule of Judicial Administration 2.160(e), and the timely grounds alleging bias from campaign contributions and the husband's expressed intent to appeal or file a JQC complaint were legally insufficient to require disqualification.
[1] A motion for judicial disqualification predicated on actions and rulings of the trial court is untimely if filed after a final judgment has been entered.
[2] A judge is not required to disqualify themselves solely upon an allegation that an attorney for a party made a campaign contribution to the judge's political campaign.
Previewing 2 of 5 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“Judges are not required to disqualify themselves solely upon an allegation that an attorney for a party had made a campaign contribution to the judge's political campaign.”
Establishes that campaign contributions alone do not warrant judicial disqualification
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn a dissolution of marriage case, the trial court entered a final judgment in April 1995 designating the former wife as primary residential parent. T…
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 Grounds For Disqualification cases and more on FLexlaw
PARIENTE, Judge.
Petitioner filed this petition seeking to prohibit the assigned trial judge from presiding over any further dissolution proceedings. The motion for disqualification was filed several months after the trial court entered a final judgment designating the former wife as primary residential parent. We deny the writ of prohibition finding the majority of the reasons alleged in support of disqualification untimely and the remaining grounds legally insufficient.
To the extent that the husband’s motion for disqualification was predicated on actions and rulings of the trial court taken in connection with the dissolution proceedings, the final judgment in April 1995, and the contempt proceedings in June 1995, the motion filed in October 1995 was untimely. See Fla.R.Jud.Admin. 2.160(e); Foley v. Fleet, 644 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994).
The only grounds which could be considered timely raised under rule 2.160(e) are the allegations of bias and prejudice resulting from a campaign contribution and the husband’s intention to appeal the rulings and file a JQC complaint. These allegations were properly rejected as they are legally insufficient.
Judges are not required to disqualify themselves solely upon an allegation that an attorney for a party had made a campaign contribution to the judge’s political campaign. Nathanson v. Korvick, 577 So. 2d 943 (Fla.1991); MacKenzie v. Super Kids Bargain Store, Inc., 565 So. 2d 1332 (Fla.1990); Zaias v. Kaye, 643 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 3d 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 party’s prior filing of a complaint with the JQC does not automatically require disqualification of the trial judge. In re Code of Judicial Conduct, 659 So. 2d 692, 693 (Fla.1995). Here, there is no indication that such a complaint has even been filed.
The husband has submitted as additional grounds for disqualification the trial court’s December 13, 1995 order denying his request for indigency status on appeal, the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees to the wife in late October 1995, and the trial court’s order on rehearing entered December 29, 1995. All of these actions transpired after the motion for disqualification was denied. The husband did not submit a supplemental motion for disqualification. Since these grounds for disqualification were not raised in the trial court, we may not consider them on this petition for writ of prohibition.
Based on the foregoing reasons, the petition is denied.
WARNER and POLEN, JJ., concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
5-H Corp. v. Padovano, 708 So. 2d 244 (Fla. 1997)…e Jud. Conduct, Canon 3E(1) cmt. (“[I]f a lawyer or party has previously filed a complaint against the judge with the Judicial Qualifications Commission, that fact does not automatically require disqualification of the judge.”); Cherradi v. Andrews, 669 So. 2d 326, 327 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)(“Nor does a party’s expressed intent to file a complaint with the JQC in itself constitute a legally sufficient ground for recusal.”). We explicitly disapprove earlier district court decisions that are to any extent inconsis…
-
Phillips v. State, 971 So. 2d 149 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)…’ of a donation, or even an actual donation, by the spouse of a sitting judge is too remote to warrant disqualification in this case. Compare Neiman-Marcus Group, Inc. v. Robinson, 829 So. 2d 967, 968 (Fla. 4th DCA 2002) (citing Cherradi v. Andrews, 669 So. 2d 326 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996)). We deny the petition for writ of prohibition. STONE, POLEN and KLEIN, JJ., concur.…
-
ORR v. State, 741 So. 2d 636 (Fla. 4th DCA 1999)…faction with adverse rulings does not constitute a legally sufficient ground for a disqualification motion. See Jackson v. State, 599 So. 2d 103, 107 (Fla.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 1004, 113 S.Ct. 612, 121 L.Ed.2d 546 (1992). In Cherradi v. Andrews, 669 So. 2d 326, 327 (Fla. 4th DCA 1996), this court held that an expressed intent to appeal the judge’s ruling does not form a basis for disqualification of a judge on the grounds of bias. As noted, Orr stated his intent to appeal the “certification” issue if foun…
Previewing 3 of 4 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Honorable Mary Ann MacKENZIE v. Super Kids Bargain Store, Inc., 565 So. 2d 1332 (Fla. 1990)
- Foley v. The Honorable J. Leonard Fleet, 644 So. 2d 551 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)
- State v. White, 577 So. 2d 943 (Fla. 1991)
- Nardo Zaias v. Honorable Robert P. Kaye, 643 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- Byrd v. State, 642 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- Heier v. Fleet, 642 So. 2d 669 (Fla. 4th DCA 1994)
- Hussein Altingeyik v. State, 659 So. 2d 692 (Fla. 1995)
- In re Code of Judicial Conduct, 659 So. 2d 692 (Fla. 1995)