Leeder v. Espinosa

District Court of Appeal of Florida

Leeder v. Espinosa

833 So. 2d 776, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 404, 2002 WL 80649

CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida

DecidedJanuary 16, 2002

DocketNo. 3D02-138

StatusPublished

Cited by1 cases

This text of 833 So. 2d 776 (Leeder v. Espinosa) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook

Leeder v. Espinosa, 833 So. 2d 776, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 404, 2002 WL 80649 (Fla. Ct. App. 2002).

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Opinion

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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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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Bluebook (online)

833 So. 2d 776, 2002 Fla. App. LEXIS 404, 2002 WL 80649, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leeder-v-espinosa-fladistctapp-2002.

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