CHARLES R. ROBERTS, APPELLANT,
v.
STATE OF FLORIDA, APPELLEE
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.
Charles Roberts challenged his sentencing by a judge who had previously served as County Solicitor and filed the original criminal informations against him. The court held that a judge is disqualified from presiding over a case in which he previously acted as counsel for either party, regardless of whether he recalls the details of the earlier involvement.
Yes. A judge is absolutely disqualified from presiding over a case in which he previously appeared as counsel for either party, regardless of whether the judge recalls his prior involvement or whether his recollection of specific facts is absent. This disqualification exists as a matter of law independent of statute.
“A Judge who, prior to Commission to Judicial Office, appeared as counsel of record in a suit is disqualified to serve as Judge in such litigation.”
Establishes the core principle of judicial disqualification based on prior representation
Previewing 1 of 3 key quotes on this case — the court’s exact language, pinpointed for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceRoberts pleaded guilty to two charges of breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor in 1957 and was placed on probation. His probation …
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 Disqualification Of Judge cases and more on FLexlaw
The Appellant, Charles R. Roberts, the Defendant below, has perfected this Appeal from the sentence imposed upon him by Judge Richard H. Cooper, Judge of the Criminal Court of Record of Orange Coun*878ty, Florida, in each of the above numbered cases.
The history of the cases began with the filing of informations against Charles R. Roberts by Honorable Richard H. Cooper, County Solicitor of Orange County, Florida, prosecuting for the State of Florida in the Criminal Court of Record of said County, charging the defendant with two offenses of breaking and entering with intent to commit a misdemeanor. The defendant, on November 6, 1957, entered his plea of guilty as charged in each information. He was thereupon, on November 27, 1957, adjudged to be guilty of said offenses and was placed on probation for a period of four years by Judge W. M. Murphy, Presiding Judge of said Court. Thereafter, the Honorable Richard H. Cooper became a judge of the Criminal Court of Record of Orange County, Florida. The record then reflects that on March 15, 1961, a warrant was issued by Judge Cooper for the arrest of the defendant for alleged violation of the provisions of the probation order. Thereafter, the Order of revocation was reversed by the Supreme Court, and the cause was remanded for further proceeding. See State ex rel. Roberts v. Cochran, Fla., 140 So.2d 597.
Following a hearing on the issue of parole violation Judge Cooper, by Order of date May 2, 1962, revoked the probation and imposed indeterminate sentences upon the defendant. Upon appeal, the cause was remanded for the imposition of a proper sentence. Roberts v. State, Fla.App., 154 So. 2d 695. Thereafter, on July 18, 1963, the defendant for the first time filed his suggestion alleging the disqualification of Judge Cooper upon the ground that the said Judge was the same person who, as County Solicitor, had filed the informations in behalf of the State of Florida against the defendant. The suggestion was considered and denied by Judge Cooper on July 18, 1963, as reflected by the certificate of the Clerk of said Court. The said Judge thereupon sentenced the defendant to imprisonment in the State prison for a period of eighteen months. The defendant assigns as error the Order of Judge Cooper denying the suggestion of his disqualification.
A Judge who, prior to Commission to Judicial Office, appeared as counsel of record in a suit is disqualified to serve as Judge in such litigation. This is also the rule, even though some other member of the law firm handled the case and the Judge had no personal knowledge concerning it. The disqualification of the Judge exists independent of any Statute. See Tampa St. Ry. & Power Co. v. Tampa Suburban R. Co., 30 Fla. 595, 11 So. 562, 17 L.R.A. 681; State ex rel. Ambler v. Hocker, 34 Fla. 25, 15 So. 581, 25 L.R.A. 114; and 18 Fla.Jur., Judges, Sec. 53. This principle is based upon the maxim that no man should be a Judge in his own lawsuit.
No doubt the volume of litigation instituted by the office of County Solicitor of Orange County was such that Judge Cooper had no recollection of having interviewed the State’s witnesses and filed the informations against the defendant Roberts. However, upon the filing of suggestion of disqualification by the defendant, it thereupon became the duty of Judge Cooper to recognize his disqualification as a matter of law regardless of whether his official act in filing the prosecution as attorney for the State of Florida was within the span of his memory.
When leadfooted justice has reached the end of its long trail, and imposition of sentence is to be pronounced, the interest of justice requires that the Presiding Judge shall not be former counsel for the defense nor for the prosecution, as the case may be.
The learned Judge was in error in denying suggestion of disqualification. The sentences imposed are Vacated, and the cause is remanded with directions that the Appellant be sentenced according to law.
SHANNON, Acting C. J., and FANNER, J. (Ret.), concur.
Cases With Similar Vibessemantic neighbors from the corpus
Citator
Cited By
-
Goines v. State, 708 So. 2d 656 (Fla. 4th DCA 1998)…l matter relating to the same crime); Duest v. Goldstein, 654 So. 2d 1004 [*659] (Fla. 4th DCA 1995) (trial judge who assisted state attorney prosecuting petitioner in original trial disqualified from presiding over re-sentencing); Roberts v. State, 161 So. 2d 877 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964) (as matter of law disqualification required where trial judge had been County Solicitor who filed information in same case). Disqualification is ordinarily required in any situation where the facts are reasonably sufficient to cr…
-
Dendy v. State, 954 So. 2d 1221 (Fla. 4th DCA 2007)…g that the trial judge’s assistance in prosecuting defendant at his first trial, while the judge was an assistant and supervising state attorney of the division in which defendant was tried, created a reasonable basis for concern); Roberts v. State, 161 So. 2d 877 (Fla. 2d DCA 1964) (holding that a judge was disqualified to preside over the defendant’s case where the judge had earlier appeared in the prosecution as county solicitor and had interviewed the witnesses against the defendant and filed the informat…
Authorities Cited
- State ex rel. Lewis Roberts v. Cochran, 140 So. 2d 597 (Fla. 1962)
- Roberts v. State, 154 So. 2d 695 (Fla. 2d DCA 1963)
- The Tampa St. Ry. & Power Co. v. The Tampa Suburban R.R. Co., 30 Fla. 595 (Fla. 1892)
- The State of Fla. ex rel. Daniel G. Ambler v. Hooker, 34 Fla. 25 (Fla. 1894)