JOHN YOUNG SONG v. THE STATE OF FLORIDA

• Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida
• Decided: February 2, 2022
• Docket: 22-0079
• Status: Published

Opinion

Third District Court of Appeal State of Florida

Opinion filed February 2, 2022. Not final until disposition of timely filed motion for rehearing.

________________

No. 3D22-0079 Lower Tribunal No. F18-22750 ________________

John Young Song, Petitioner,

vs.

The State of Florida, Respondent.

A Case of Original Jurisdiction – Prohibition.

Braun Law Group, PLLC, and David J. Braun (Pembroke Pines), for petitioner.

Ashley Moody, Attorney General, and Ivy R. Ginsberg, Assistant Attorney General, for respondent.

Before SCALES, HENDON, and MILLER, JJ.

MILLER, J. Petitioner, John Young Song, seeks a writ of prohibition to prevent the

assigned trial judge from further presiding over his criminal case. His verified

disqualification motion, deemed legally insufficient below, recites the trial

court’s reference to his occupation as a law enforcement officer in denying

his motion for modification of pretrial release conditions. If viewed in

isolation, the reference might invoke a concern of partiality. However, here,

a full review of the transcript of the proceedings reveals the trial court merely

considered all relevant factors in ruling upon the motion and refused to afford

petitioner any special treatment. Because it is a well-settled principle that

adverse rulings, without more, do not constitute the requisite bias or

prejudice necessary to support disqualification, petitioner has failed to

demonstrate a basis for relief. Mendoza v. State, 87 So. 3d 644, 664 (Fla.

2011).

Petition denied.