Title: In re Disqualification of Singer

State: ohio

Issuer: Ohio Supreme Court

Document:

[Cite as In re Disqualification of Singer, ___ Ohio St.3d ___, 2020-Ohio-5312.] 
 
 
 
IN RE DISQUALIFICATION OF SINGER. 
THE STATE OF OHIO v. VINSON. 
[Cite as In re Disqualification of Singer, ___ Ohio St.3d ___, 2020-Ohio-5312.] 
Judges—Affidavits 
of 
disqualification—R.C. 
2701.03—Affiant 
failed 
to 
demonstrate bias or prejudice—Disqualification denied. 
(No. 20-AP-096—Decided November 10, 2020.) 
ON AFFIDAVIT OF DISQUALIFICATION in Montgomery County Court of Common 
Pleas, General Division, Case No. 2020 CR 02056. 
____________ 
O’CONNOR, C.J. 
{¶ 1} Defendant, Robert L. Vinson Bey, has filed an affidavit pursuant to 
R.C. 2701.03 seeking to disqualify Judge Gregory F. Singer from the above-
referenced case. 
{¶ 2} Mr. Vinson Bey alleges that Judge Singer is biased and has a conflict 
of interest, mostly because Judge Singer and the assistant prosecutor are both 
allegedly members of the Ohio State Bar Association. 
{¶ 3} In disqualification requests, “[t]he term ‘bias or prejudice’ ‘implies a 
hostile feeling or spirit of ill-will or undue friendship or favoritism toward one of 
the litigants or his attorney, with the formation of a fixed anticipatory judgment on 
the part of the judge, as contradistinguished from an open state of mind which will 
be governed by the law and the facts.’ ”  In re Disqualification of O’Neill, 100 Ohio 
St.3d 1232, 2002-Ohio-7479, 798 N.E.2d 17, ¶ 14, quoting State ex rel. Pratt v. 
Weygandt, 164 Ohio St. 463, 469, 132 N.E.2d 191 (1956).  “The proper test for 
determining whether a judge’s participation in a case presents an appearance of 
impropriety is * * * an objective one.  A judge should step aside or be removed if 
a reasonable and objective observer would harbor serious doubts about the judge’s 
SUPREME COURT OF OHIO 
 
2
impartiality.”  In re Disqualification of Lewis, 117 Ohio St.3d 1227, 2004-Ohio-
7359, 884 N.E.2d 1082, ¶ 8.  Mr. Vinson Bey has not established that Judge Singer 
has hostile feelings toward him or has formed a fixed, anticipatory judgment on any 
issue in the underlying case.  Nor has Mr. Vinson Bey set forth a compelling 
argument for disqualifying Judge Singer to avoid an appearance of partiality. 
{¶ 4} To support his assertion that the judge is a member of the Ohio State 
Bar Association, Mr. Vinson Bey has submitted printouts from this court’s online 
attorney directory.  But the fact that the judge and the assistant prosecutor are 
members of the Ohio bar and are identified in the attorney directory does not mean 
that they are also members of the Ohio State Bar Association, which is a separate 
entity.  Even if Judge Singer were a member of the Ohio State Bar Association, 
such membership, by itself, would not be grounds for disqualification in the 
underlying criminal matter.  The Ohio Code of Judicial Conduct acknowledges that 
judges are uniquely qualified to engage in extrajudicial activities that concern the 
legal system, such as by “participating in judicial or bar association activities.”  
Jud.Cond.R. 3.1, Comment 1.  See also In re Disqualification of Judges of the First 
Dist. Court of Appeals, 91 Ohio St.3d 1207, 741 N.E.2d 136 (2000) (appellate 
judges were not disqualified from a case against the Cincinnati Bar Association, 
although the judges were members of the bar association, because none of the 
judges held offices in the association or received any tangible benefit from their 
memberships). 
{¶ 5} The affidavit of disqualification is denied.  The case may proceed 
before Judge Singer. 
__________________