Untalan v. Stahl

Opinion

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF GUAM 2 RICHARD J. & AND EDWARD G. ) 3 UNTALAN, ) ) 4 Plaintiffs, ) ) 5 vs. ) Answer 6 ) (Statement of Objection) CHRISTOPHER STAHL, ) 7 ) Defendant. ) 8

10 BACKGROUND 11 This case is currently assigned to Judge Vernon P. Perez ("Court"). On July 31, 2013 12 the Court issued a notice of disqualifying facts pursuant to 7 GCA § 6105 and § 6107. 13 Defendant Christopher Stahl ("Defendant") filed an objection to the Court's competency 14

15 ("Objection") on August 9, 2013. Having reviewed the Statement of Objection, the Court now

16 issues its response. 17 DISCUSSION 18 Title 7 GCA § 6105 governs the disqualification of judges. Section 6105(a) provides: 19

20 § 6105. Grounds of Disqualification.

21 (a) Any judge shall disqualify himself or herself in any proceeding in which his or her impartiality might reasonably be questioned, but if, following complete 22 disclosure to all parties in the proceedings of the reasons for disqualification, all 23 parties agree to having the judge continue to sit in the proceedings, he or she need not disqualify himself or herself. 24 GCA § 6105(a). Guam courts apply an "objective, reasonable person standard in determining 25

26 hether there is an appearance of bias meriting disqualification." People of Guam v. Tennessen,

27 010 Guam 12, 49. "The Tenth Circuit has held that neither '[r]umor, speculation, beliefs, 28 onclusions, innuendo, suspicion, opinion, and similar non-factual matters[,] [nor] mere

Page 1 of3

Answer Civil Case No. CV1212-ll amiliarity with the defendant give rise to disqualific,::1tion 11ncier the federal disqualification 2 tatute." Id.(quoting Nichols v. Alley, 71 F.3d 347, 351 (lOth Cir. 1995)). "[T]he Tenth Circuit 3 lso rightly observed, a judge has 'as strong a duty to sit when there is no legitimate reason to 4 ecuse as does when the law and facts require."' Clemens v. U.S. Dist. Ct., 428 F.3d 1175, 1178- 5

6 9 (9th Cir. 2005) (quoting Nichols, 71 F.3d at 351)).

7 Defendant contends that the basis for the Court's disqualification is that the Defendant's 8 former spouse is the daughter of former Governor Carl T.C. Gutierrez, whose family the Court 9 has known for many years casually in political contexts and from growing up in adjacent 10

ll villages. Additionally, Defendant contends that there are sufficient grounds for the Court's

12 disqualification due to the association that the Court has with a religious order, of which a close

13 family member of the Defendant's former spouse is also affiliated with. 14 The Court concludes that the above-listed facts are legally inadequate to cause a 15 reasonable person to question the Court's impartiality in this matter. Due to closeness of such a 16

17 small community, judges will almost inevitably form acquaintances, some even so remote, that

18 may eventually arise in litigation before their court. The fact that the Court has known the 19 family of the Defendant's former spouse along with the Court's mere membership in the same 20 religious order as the mother of the Defendant's former spouse, alone, would not cause a 21 reasonable person to question the Court's impartiality. "Judges are not soulless automatons; 22

23 they are permitted to have social and cultural interests outside of the courtroom." Armenian

24 Assembly of Am., Inc. v. Cafesjian, 783 F.Supp. 2d 78, 90 (D.D.C. 2011); Sexson v. Servaas, 25 830 F.Supp. 475, 478 ("In taking the oath of office as a judge, a person does not agree to be a 26 hermit removed from the world.") The facts, as asserted in Defendant's Statement of Objection, 27

28 are legally insufficient to disqualify the Court.

Page 2 of3

Answer Civil Case No. CV1212-11 CONCLUSION 2 For the Foregoing reasons, the Court ANSWERS Defendant's Statement of Objection 3 and states that the Court should not be disqualified from the current case on the bases presented 4 in the Statement of Objection. 5

7 SO ORDERED this ~of August 2013. 8 I, Judge Vernon P. Perez, verify under penalty of perjury the foregoing is true and 9 correct. 10

II

12 H NORABLE VERNON P. PEREZ JUDGE, SUPERIOR COURT OF GUAM 13

Page 3 of3

Answer Civil Case No. CV1212-11