Opinion ID: 444625
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Recusal Request

Text: 22 The defendants requested that Chief Judge Benson recuse himself from the case. They alleged that the judge could not be impartial because he had a professional or personal relationship with the deceased United States Marshals. 23 28 U.S.C. Secs. 144 and 455 govern the disqualification of judges. Section 144 provides for recusal of a district court judge where a legally sufficient affidavit is timely filed which demonstrates a personal bias or prejudice of the judge. Section 455 provides for disqualification where a judge's impartiality might reasonably be questioned or he has a personal bias or prejudice. As grounds for disqualification set out in the statutes are quite similar, both may be considered together. See Gilbert v. City of Little Rock, 722 F.2d 1390, 1399 (8th Cir.1983), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 104 S.Ct. 2347, 80 L.Ed.2d 820 (1984); Phillips v. Joint Legislative Committee, 637 F.2d 1014, 1019 (5th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 456 U.S. 960, 102 S.Ct. 2035, 72 L.Ed.2d 483 (1982). 24 The statutory requirements must be complied with before a judge can be disqualified. United States v. Anderson, 433 F.2d 856, 859 (8th Cir.1970). Relief under section 144 is expressly conditioned on the timely filing of a legally sufficient affidavit. Id. When an affidavit does not meet the requirements imposed by law, the judge should not disqualify himself. See Wounded Knee Legal Defense/Offense Committee v. Federal Bureau of Investigation, 07 F.2d 1281, 1285-86 (8th Cir.1974); Anderson, supra, 433 F.2d at 860. To be legally sufficient, an affidavit must allege bias or prejudice, and such bias and prejudice to be disqualifying must stem from an extrajudicial source and result in an opinion on the merits on some basis other than what the judge learned from his participation in the case. United States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563, 583, 86 S.Ct. 1698, 1710, 16 L.Ed.2d 778 (1966). See Phillips, supra, 637 F.2d at 1020. 25 In this case the affidavits allege that the judge could not be impartial because of the deceased marshals' contact with the court. Assuming that the deceased marshals did have contact with the court by providing security, it does not follow that the judge had a professional or personal relationship with either marshal sufficient to demonstrate personal prejudice bias, or an inability to be impartial. The affidavits are not legally sufficient under section 144, and they do not raise a reasonable question as to the judge's impartiality under section 455. See Davis v. Commissioner, 734 F.2d 1302 (8th Cir.1984). They contain conclusory allegations of bias or prejudice without sufficient factual support for the conclusions reached. The defendants cite numerous rulings at trial as evidence of the court's bias. This evidence fails to establish the requisite extrajudicial bias. See Anderson, supra, 433 F.2d at 860. Accordingly, the district court judge did not abuse his discretion in refusing to recuse himself. See Gilbert, supra, 722 F.2d at 1399; Phillips, supra, 637 F.2d at 1021; United States v. Equifax, Inc., 557 F.2d 456, 464 (5th Cir.1977), cert. denied, 434 U.S. 1035, 98 S.Ct. 768, 54 L.Ed.2d 782 (1978).