Case Name: Lewis R. DOWDA, Petitioner, v. Dominick SALFI, etc., Respondent
Court: Florida District Court of Appeal
Jurisdiction: Florida
Decision Date: 1984-09-06
Citations: 455 So. 2d 604
Docket Number: No. 84-141
Parties: Lewis R. DOWDA, Petitioner, v. Dominick SALFI, etc., Respondent.
Judges: DAUKSCH and COWART, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 455
Pages: 604–605

Head Matter:
Lewis R. DOWDA, Petitioner, v. Dominick SALFI, etc., Respondent.
No. 84-141.
District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fifth District.
Sept. 6, 1984.
Lewis R. Dowda, pro se.
Jim Smith, Atty. Gen., Tallahassee, and Mark C. Menser, Asst. Atty. Gen., Daytona Beach, for respondent.

Opinion:
PER CURIAM.
Dowda petitions this court for a writ of prohibition to prevent the assigned trial judge from acting on his motion for post-conviction relief under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.850. Dowda's motion for disqualification of the trial judge, and the two accompanying affidavits, in essence allege that the trial judge should be disqualified because Dowda had brought a civil rights complaint against the judge in federal court and that while the civil rights complaint had been dismissed, an appeal of that dismissal was pending. We hold the reason given is legally insufficient to require the trial judge's disqualification and deny the petition.
A defendant in a criminal case cannot disqualify a trial judge by merely filing a civil law action against the judge. To hold otherwise would permit a defendant to decide and control who will be the judge in his own case by merely filing lawsuits against judges he does not prefer. He could thereby ultimately select the judge he does prefer by naming all other judges as parties defendants in baseless civil actions. However, the merit or lack of merit of the defendant's civil suit against the judge is immaterial. This is so because if the civil action has no merit the judge should not be disqualified and, if the civil action does have merit, then the basis for the civil action can then also be used as the substantive ground for disqualification under Florida Rule of Criminal Procedure 3.230. The mere filing of a lawsuit against the judge does not constitute a ground for disqualification. It is exclusively within the defendant's control to file the lawsuit which may be frivolous and may not even allege facts which are legally sufficient to disqualify under Rule 3.230. This tactic cannot be approved and made a successful method to disqualify judges in criminal cases.
The petition for writ of prohibition is DENIED.
DAUKSCH and COWART, JJ., concur.
SHARP, J., concurs in result only with opinion.