Michael J. Sheehan, Esq.
Criminal Defense/DUI/Personal Injury
Judicial Recusal

A party's right to a fair trial demands that a trial judge be free of any bias, prejudice or interest directed toward any party, witness, or counsel. A party is permitted to file a motion for recusal, or substitution, of a trial judge if the judge is related to one of the attorneys involved in the case, is the named victim in the case or has a relative who is a named victim in the case, was previously an attorney involved in the case, or is in any way interested or prejudiced with respect to the case, the parties, or counsel. 

In a recent Texas case , the prosecution sought recusal of a judge who it alleged was retaliating against a female prosecutor, Tina Ansari, who had successfully appealed that same judge’s order in a different criminal case. In her successful appeal, Ansari argued that the judge had made sexist comments from the bench directed at her and ultimately dismissed the prosecution's case. In its opinion reversing the judge’s order, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals stated the judge’s comments directed at Ansari were “demeaning, inappropriate, and beneath the dignity of a federal judge.”

When Ansari appeared in the judge’s courtroom for the first time after her successful appeal, the judge took the bench and excused her from the case without giving a reason. He did so again at a subsequent hearing and told her she was not permitted to participate in the case. The judge’s behavior compelled the prosecution to file a motion to recuse the judge, stating that the judge’s behavior toward Ansari expressed a “deeply rooted and pervasive” level of antagonism that would render the court “biased and unable to render a fair judgment in [the] case.” The judge denied the prosecution’s motion, but the same issue will surely be raised again should the judge continue to bar Ansari from his courtroom.
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Michael J. Sheehan, Attorney at Law | Phone: 720-381-6146 | Fax: 303-694-9370
Email: michael@sheehanlawdenver.com | Website: www.sheehanlawdenver.com