BENITEZ
v.
BENITEZ
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A motion to disqualify a judge based solely on a campaign contribution allegation, without additional facts demonstrating bias or impropriety, is legally insufficient.
[1] An appeal from an order denying a motion for disqualification may be treated as a petition for writ of prohibition.
[2] A motion to disqualify a judge must be filed within a reasonable time, not to exceed ten days after discovery of the facts constituting the grounds for the motion.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“an allegation in a motion [for disqualification] that a litigant or counsel for a litigant has made a legal campaign contribution to the political campaign of the trial judge, . . . without more, is legally insufficient”
MacKenzie v. Super Kids Bargain Store, Inc., cited for the proposition that campaign contributions alone do not support disqualification
Mary D. Benitez filed a motion to disqualify the trial judge in what appears to be a family law matter. The trial court denied the disqualification mo…
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MILLER, J.
We treat the instant appeal as a petition for writ of prohibition. See Eato v. State, 7 So. 3d 633 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009) (treating an appeal from an order denying a motion for disqualification as a petition for writ of prohibition). As the trial court correctly denied the legally insufficient disqualification motion, we hereby deny the petition for writ of prohibition. See Fla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.330(e) (“A motion to disqualify shall be filed within a reasonable time not to exceed [ten] days after discovery of the facts constituting the grounds for the motion and shall be promptly presented to the court for an immediate ruling.”); see also MacKenzie v. Super Kids Bargain Store, Inc., 565 So. 2d 1332, 1335 (Fla. 1990) (“[A]n allegation in a motion [for disqualification] that a litigant or counsel for a litigant has made a legal campaign contribution to the political campaign of the trial judge, . . . without more, is” legally insufficient.); Zaias v. Kaye, 643 So. 2d 687, 687 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994) (“The fact that an attorney made a campaign contribution to a judge or served on a judge’s campaign committee does not, without more, require disqualification.”) (citations omitted).
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Authorities Cited
- Honorable Mary Ann MacKENZIE v. Super Kids Bargain Store, Inc., 565 So. 2d 1332 (Fla. 1990)
- Nardo Zaias v. Honorable Robert P. Kaye, 643 So. 2d 687 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994)
- Eato v. State, 7 So. 3d 633 (Fla. 3d DCA 2009)