Brewer v. Hughes
The Third DCA granted consolidated petitions for writs of prohibition seeking to disqualify the trial judge in a criminal case and a related civil case. The court held that the trial judge improperly relied on facts contained in a Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee (JEAC) opinion—facts that contradicted the allegations in the disqualification motions—when denying the motions, violating the rule that a judge may only assess legal sufficiency, not the truth of the facts alleged.
Key facts
- Brewer filed motions to disqualify the trial judge in both a criminal case and a related civil case.
- The trial judge denied the disqualification motions by relying on facts contained in a Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee opinion, which facts contradicted the allegations in the motions.
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Why it matters
This opinion reinforces the strict 'four corners' rule for reviewing initial disqualification motions and clarifies that even a well-intentioned request for JEAC guidance cannot be used as a backdoor to consider… — full analysis with a trial
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