Opinion ID: 2521294
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: The Trial Judge's Failure To Disclose The Conflict And, If Requested, Recuse Himself Requires Reversal Of Julien's Conviction

Text: In my view, the failure of the judge in this case to disclose his prosecutorial ties to the defendant, and to disqualify himself if so requested, must be characterized as structural error. Structural error is defined as error that affect[s] the framework within which the trial proceeds. Blecha v. People, 962 P.2d 931, 942 (Colo.1998) (internal quotation marks removed). It stands in contrast to trial error, which is error that occurs during presentation of the case to the jury and . . . may therefore be quantitatively assessed in the context of other evidence presented. Id. (internal quotation marks removed). An appearance that a judge is not fair is not the sort of trial error that can be separated from the rest of the proceedings and considered in isolation. Instead, this appearance of impropriety infects the entire trial. When structural error occurs, reversal is required. Id. ; see also Flamm, supra, § 5.5, at 154 (Generally speaking, where an appearance of bias  such that the judge's `impartiality might reasonably be questioned' by a reasonable person  can be shown, any decision rendered by that judge will be subject to reversal.).