United States v. Sampson

12 F. Supp. 3d 203, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35324, 2014 WL 1093120
CourtDistrict Court, D. Massachusetts
DecidedMarch 17, 2014
DocketCr. No. 01-10384-MLW
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 12 F. Supp. 3d 203 (United States v. Sampson) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Massachusetts primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Sampson, 12 F. Supp. 3d 203, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35324, 2014 WL 1093120 (D. Mass. 2014).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

WOLF, District Judge.

This Memorandum is based on the part of the transcript of the January 21, 2014 hearing in which the court explained its preliminary view that its recusal is not required under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a) on the basis of its association with Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Hafer. This Memorandum adds headings and citations, clarifies and amplifies some language, and, in footnotes, addresses some subsequent events.

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I. INTRODUCTION

As suggested by the government in its December 20, 2013 submission, I have seriously considered whether I should now recuse myself sua sponte pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 455(a), which requires a judge’s disqualification if his impartiality might reasonably be questioned, unless the parties waive the ground for disqualification under 28 U.S.C. § 455(e). Based on the facts, which I will describe in detail, and the applicable legal standards, I now believe that my recusal is not permissible or, if permissible, appropriate. However, this view has necessarily been developed without the benefit of briefing by the parties. Therefore, I am directing the parties to order the transcript of this part of the proceeding on an expedited basis and, after considering my analysis, file, by January 28, 2014, either a motion for recusal or a statement that the party does not request my disqualification.

More specifically, in response to the invitation in the November 29, 2013 Order to raise issues to be addressed at the January 21, 2014 hearing, the government stated that the court should address whether its [205]*205recusal is necessary and appropriate because Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Hafer, who did not begin participating in this case until 2010, is now lead counsel for the government, and because of the First Circuit’s reasoning in In re Bulger, 710 F.3d 42 (1st Cir.2013).

When Mr. Hafer first appeared, as the fourth prosecutor in this case, in 2010, I promptly disclosed the facts regarding our relationship in an August 23, 2010 written Memorandum and Order. The government and Sampson each twice agreed that: (1) I was not actually biased and, therefore, there was no issue of my possible recusal under 28 U.S.C. § 455(b)(1); (2) a reasonable person could not question my impartiality and, therefore, there was no basis for my recusal under § 455(a); and (3) in any event, the government and Sampson waived any objection to my participation under § 455(a) pursuant to § 455(e). See Gov’t’s Resp. to Court’s Aug. 23, 2010 Order; Sampson’s Resp. to This Court’s Order of Aug. 23, 2010/ Aug. 30, 2010 Tr. at 4.

The government, and implicitly the defendant, reiterated at the January 21, 2014 hearing that there is no contention that I am actually biased or prejudiced, which would, if true, require recusal under § 455(b)(1). Nevertheless, the government states that Mr. Hafer’s new status and In re Bulger are “significant” developments that necessitate the court revisiting its 2010 decision concerning recusal.

For the reasons I will describe, In re Bulger does not establish a new, substantially expanded legal standard for recusal under § 455(a). Without the benefit of a motion to recuse and briefing by the parties, I do not find that recusal sua sponte is either permissible or appropriate. I will, as I said, provide the parties an opportunity to consider my reasoning and to move for my recusal if either perceives a proper basis for doing so. If a motion is filed, I will carefully consider and decide it.

II. LEGAL STANDARD

It is important to start with the applicable standard and to explain why the In re Bulger decision does not alter the jurisprudence of the First Circuit concerning § 455(a), which is consistent with the jurisprudence throughout the United States.

In In re Bulger, the First Circuit began its analysis of the standard that controls recusal decisions by quoting the applicable statute. It wrote: “The governing statute, 28 U.S.C. § 455(a), provides that a judge shall disqualify himself from any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” 710 F.3d at 45. The phrase “might reasonably be questioned” recognizes that reasonable people might differ in their views as to whether a judge’s impartiality should be questioned in a particular set of circumstances.

In addition to using the statutory language “might reasonably be questioned,” the First Circuit in In re Bulger also, essentially interchangeably, employed the standard of whether a reasonable person “would” question the judge’s impartiality. See id. at 43, 46.

In In re Bulger, quoting its earlier decision in In re Allied-Signal, the First Circuit emphasized that:

The disqualification decision must reflect not only the need to secure public confidence in proceedings that appear impartial, but also the need to prevent parties from too easily obtaining the disqualification of a judge, thereby potentially manipulating the system for strategic reasons, perhaps to obtain a judge more to their liking.

In re Bulger, 710 F.3d at 47 (quoting In re Allied-Signal Inc., 891 F.2d 967, 970 (1st [206]*206Cir.1989)1). “Hence,” the First Circuit wrote, “a district judge asked to recuse is not to use the standard of Caesar’s wife, the standard of mere suspicion.” Id. (quoting In re Allied-Signal, 891 F.2d at 970).

I discussed In re Allied-Signal in two decisions in United States v. Salemme, another case involving Bulger. See United States v. Salemme, 164 F.Supp.2d 49 (D.Mass.1998) (“Salemme I”); United States v. Salemme, 164 F.Supp.2d 86 (D.Mass.1998) (“Salemme II”). In Sa-lemme, the government attempted to prompt my recusal based, in part, on grounds it had previously waived. To the extent that they involve issues concerning a prior waiver, Salemme and the instant case are analogous.

In Salemme I, relying substantially on In re Allied-Signal, I wrote:

[A] judge must “disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” § 455(a). “ ‘Disqualification [under § 455(a) ] is appropriate only if the facts provide what an objective, knowledgeable member of the public would find to be a reasonable basis for doubting the judge’s impartiality.’ ” In re Allied-Signal [, 891 F.2d at 970] (quoting In re United States, 666 F.2d 690, 695 (1st Cir.1981)) (emphasis in original).

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12 F. Supp. 3d 203, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 35324, 2014 WL 1093120, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-sampson-mad-2014.