NATHAN I. LEEDER AND G.T. PRIVATEER, PETITIONERS,
v.
HEBERTO R. ESPINOSA AND MERCHANT FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS, INC., RESPONDENTS
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Court granted petition for writ of prohibition requiring trial judge to disqualify herself where her impartiality might reasonably be questioned due to prior adversarial relationship with petitioner's counsel in reelection campaign.
A trial judge must disqualify herself when a party's counsel was an opponent in the judge's reelection campaign and the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
[1] A trial judge has an obligation to sua sponte recuse herself under Canon 3(E)(1)(a) of the Code of Judicial Conduct when her impartiality might reasonably be questioned d…
Previewing 1 of 1 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“A judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances where: (a) the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party's lawyer, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceedings.”
Canon 3(E)(1)(a) of the Code of Judicial Conduct, cited as the basis for mandatory disqualification.
Petitioners sought a writ of prohibition to disqualify Judge Eleanor Schockett from presiding over their case, asserting that prior adversarial involv…
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PER CURIAM.
The petitioners seek a writ of prohibition ordering the Honorable Eleanor Schockett to disqualify herself from presiding over the case below. As this Court stated in a previous case involving petitioner’s counsel and Judge Eleanor Schockett, disqualification of a trial judge is appropriate where the petitioner asserts that he. cannot receive a fair trial or hearing because his counsel was an opponent in the judge’s reelection campaign. Tower Group, Inc. v. Doral Enterprises Joint Ventures, 760 So. 2d 256, 257 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000). Furthermore, we must reiterate that:
[Under certain circumstances], we believe that the trial judge may have had an obligation to sua sponte recuse herself from this cause pursuant to Canon 3(E)(1)(a), Code of Judicial Conduct; that canon requires that:
(1) A.judge shall disqualify himself or herself in a proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to instances where:
(a) the judge has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party or a party’s lawyer, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceedings^]
Tower, 760 So. 2d at 257.
Accordingly, we grant the petition, quash the order under review, and remand for entry of an order disqualifying the trial judge from this proceeding.
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Sands Pointe Ocean Beach Resort Condo. Ass'n, Inc. v. Aelion, 251 So. 3d 950 (Fla. 3d DCA 2018)…pposed the presiding trial judge ("in an acrimonious judicial campaign," a characterization not discernible in the present case); case remanded with directions that the trial judge grant the motion for disqualification). See also Leeder v. Espinosa, 833 So. 2d 776, 776 (Fla. 3d DCA 2002) (same trial judge and individual attorney/campaign opponent; reiterating the holding in Tower Group, Inc. that "the trial judge may may have had an obligation to sua sponte recuse herself from this cause pursuant to Canon 3(E…
Authorities Cited
- The Tower Grp., Inc. v. Doral Enters. Joint Ventures, 760 So. 2d 256 (Fla. 3d DCA 2000)