Sands Pointe Ocean Beach Resort Condominium Association, Inc. v. Aelion (consolidated petitions for writ of prohibition)
Twenty-seven consolidated petitions for writ of prohibition sought to disqualify an incumbent Miami-Dade circuit judge in cases handled by the law firm whose member was the judge's sole opponent in an upcoming judicial election. The Third District held, as a matter of first impression, that a firm member's candidacy against the presiding judge is not imputed to every other lawyer in the firm, and that conclusory allegations of 'inherent bias or prejudice' without any specific facts are legally insufficient to overcome the presumption of judicial impartiality.
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Key facts
- Twenty-seven consolidated petitions sought to disqualify a Miami-Dade circuit judge in cases handled by a law firm whose member was running against the judge in an upcoming judicial election.
- The trial court denied the motions to disqualify, and the petitioners appealed to the Third District Court of Appeal seeking writs of prohibition.
- +2 more key facts with a free trial
Why it matters
This is a first-impression Florida decision rejecting a per se imputation rule in the judicial-election disqualification context, and it supplies a detailed survey of the governing statute, Rule 2.330, Canon 3E(1), and… — full analysis with a trial
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