Are you facing a judgment from a Palm Beach probate judge you know to be biased? Maybe you should see what the Third District Court of Appeal had to say about what constitutes prejudging a case.
The Right to an Impartial Judge
- According to the Supreme Court of Florida every litigant is entitled to nothing less than the cold neutrality of an impartial judge.
- If a judge is not neutral, they can choose to recuse themselves on their own accord.
- This happens all the time when a judge may know a party.
- What happens when the judge won’t take the hint?
- When a Palm Beach judge will not recuse themselves, you may want to consider filing amotion for disqualification.
- Can you guess who gets to decide that motion? The judge you are trying to disqualify.
- What if the judge does not grant your motion? Would you grant a motion to someone who just told you that your not doing your job correctly? If you are a judge, you are not supposed to take that into account.
- Can you appeal a motion for disqualification immediately or do you have to wait until after the trial?
- If a Court of Appeal decides that the trial judge abused his discretion by not granting your motion, they will issue something called a Writ of Prohibition. This prohibits the judge from hearing the case.
- What types of facts and evidence does the Appellate Court use to make such a determination? You may want to see what the Third District Court of Miami had to say when they reviewed a judge’s motion for disqualification.
A Judge May Not Prejudge a Case: Great American Ins. Co. of N.Y. v. 2000 Island Blvd. Condo. Assn. Inc.
- In this case an insurance company was disputing coverage with a large condominium development. Early on in the case, prior to even a single deposition the court seemed to clearly side with the plaintiff.
- The Third DCA did not look kindly on this either, see the link at the bottom of this post to read the entire case and see what the appellate judges thought of this judge’s conduct. Maybe these comments are similar to ones you have heard in your own Delray Beach probate dispute.
- So what exactly did this judge have to say?
- Do you think the following excerpt counts as “prejudging?”
Judge: […] It strains all credulity for me to believe that your carrier has not denied coverage based on the information they know now.
Counsel: But they have not.
Judge: Then fork over the money.
- The Appellate court did not look kindly on this, in fact they said it was enough in and of itself to deem disqualification proper. They also went on to look at several other comments that again, were sufficient to merit disqualification.
- Do you think the judge will be put up for review after this? Should he?
- Maybe he was just misquoting Jerry Maguire?! (Show me the money!)
Want to see more? Maybe you want to see these transcript comments and see if they reflect the comments a judge made in your Pompano Beach will contest. The case is available for free just click here.