Opinion ID: 396196
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Recusal Claim

Text: 9 Before we address the allegations relating to the criminal trial we first examine the earlier proceedings before Judge Motley which appellants claim taint the subsequent criminal trial, thereby requiring reversal. 10 Appellants strenuously argue that the civil attachment proceeding, out of which some of the criminal charges and some of the evidence presented in the criminal trial grew, was invalid due to Judge Motley's failure to recuse herself under 28 U.S.C. § 455. 3 This invalidity, they contend, tainted the subsequent criminal proceedings before Judge Carter. Appellants claim that Judge Motley obtained personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts and was therefore required to recuse herself from the attachment proceeding. According to appellants, Judge Motley's pre-knowledge of evidence relating to facts disputed in the proceeding created a situation in which her impartiality might reasonably be questioned. This allegedly disqualifying pre-knowledge was obtained when Assistant United States Attorney Audrey Strauss, who subsequently prosecuted the criminal case, approached Judge Motley asking that Glusband, the receiver, be permitted to cooperate in a criminal investigation of Coven and O'Connor. Strauss told Judge Motley that Earl Wilt, while cooperating with the government, had obtained evidence that Coven and O'Connor had attempted to defraud the receiver by showing him records of fictitious orders from MHS to Euro-Swiss for which MHS had not paid, and by producing a fraudulent, backdated customer agreement between MHS and Euro-Swiss. These documents, if genuine, would have demonstrated that Euro-Swiss did not owe money to MHS under the maturing contracts. Judge Motley permitted Glusband to report to the government on any meetings with Coven and O'Connor in the course of his duties as receiver, but warned that Glusband should inform the court of any conflict that might develop between his duties as receiver and his cooperation with the criminal investigation. 11 A few weeks later, Glusband filed a complaint against Euro-Swiss and obtained an ex parte order attaching Euro-Swiss' assets. Glusband moved to confirm the order, and Euro-Swiss cross-moved for an order vacating the attachment. Judge Motley scheduled the matter for an immediate hearing after which she denied the motion to vacate the attachment. Appellants argue here as they did before Judge Carter that Judge Motley's prior knowledge of evidence received from Strauss relating to attempts to defraud Glusband required the Judge to recuse herself from presiding over this hearing. 12 Section 455(b)(1) requires recusal when a judge has personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding .... The term personal was carried over from 28 U.S.C. § 144 when section 455 was amended in 1974. Pub.L.No.93-512, 88 Stat. 1609. This amendment to section 455 was intended to make the statutory standards for judicial disqualification consistent with those set forth in Canon 3C of the ABA Code of Judicial Conduct. See H.R.Rep.No.93-1453, 93d Cong., 2d Sess. (1974), reprinted in (1974) U.S.Code Cong. & Ad.News 6351. The ABA Code was adopted in 1972 in the light of a long line of cases holding that personal as used in section 144 means extrajudicial. Knowledge acquired by the judge while he performs judicial duties does not constitute grounds for disqualification. United States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563, 583, 86 S.Ct. 1698, 1710, 16 L.Ed.2d 778 (1966); United States v. Bernstein, 533 F.2d 775, 785 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 998, 97 S.Ct. 523, 50 L.Ed.2d 608 (1976). There is no indication in the ABA Code, the accompanying commentary, or the legislative history of section 455 that this earlier judicial interpretation of personal was disapproved. Against this background it is clear that by amending section 455 Congress intended to transfer the extrajudicial bias limitation contained in section 144 to section 455(b)(1). Information or knowledge possessed by a judge must stem from an extrajudicial source to warrant disqualification. In re International Business Machines Corp., 618 F.2d 923, 927-28 (2d Cir. 1980); United States v. Wolfson, 558 F.2d 59, 62-63 (2d Cir. 1977). 13 In this case, the information in question was obtained by Judge Motley when the government sought her approval of an agreement by a receiver she had appointed to cooperate in a criminal investigation. It was clearly within her judicial responsibilities to be informed of proposed activities that might impair the receiver's ability to perform his duties properly. Therefore, Judge Motley was not required to recuse herself under 28 U.S.C. § 455(b)(1). 14 Appellants also claim that recusal was required under 28 U.S.C. § 455(a), asserting that Judge Motley's impartiality in the attachment proceeding might reasonably be questioned because of her familiarity with matters in dispute. Section 455(a) does not contain the term personal found in section 455(b) (1). Thus, it has been asserted that this section does not contain the requirement that to be disqualifying bias must spring from an extrajudicial source. See Note, Disqualification of Federal Judges for Bias or Prejudice, 45 U.Chi.L.Rev. 236, 254-57 (1978). As this Court has said in the past, 15 We recognize that § 455(a) is designed to negate the duty to sit notion and to allow a greater flexibility in determining whether disqualification is warranted in particular situations. United States v. Ritter, 540 F.2d 459, 462 (10th Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 951, 97 S.Ct. 370, 50 L.Ed.2d 319 (1976). Also, we do not read the authorities (interpreting personal as extrajudicial) as holding that a judge's conduct of proceedings before him can never form a basis for finding bias. 16 United States v. Wolfson, 558 F.2d at 63 (footnote omitted). 17 However, under section 455(a) considerations, the fact that Judge Motley came upon the allegedly prejudicial information in her judicial rather than personal capacity, even if not dispositive, is relevant to an analysis of the appearance of impartiality. See In re International Business Machines Corp., 618 F.2d at 929; United States v. Daley, 564 F.2d 645, 651-52 (2d Cir. 1977), cert. denied, 435 U.S. 933, 98 S.Ct. 1508, 55 L.Ed.2d 530 (1978). In Wolfson, this Court held that section 455(a) did not require a judge to recuse himself from coram nobis proceedings which touched on activities at two trials over which he presided. The Court said: 18 We understand that regardless of a court's fairness, a defendant who has undergone two lengthy trials before the same judge, both of which ended in guilty convictions, may come to consider that judge as biased against him. These suspicions are understandable, but, without more, they do not provide a reasonable basis for questioning a judge's impartiality. 19 558 F.2d at 64. See also, In re Corrugated Container Antitrust Litigation, 614 F.2d 958, 964-65 (5th Cir.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 888, 101 S.Ct. 244, 66 L.Ed.2d 114 (1980); United States v. Schreiber, 599 F.2d 534, 535-37 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 444 U.S. 843, 100 S.Ct. 86, 62 L.Ed.2d 56 (1979); United States v. Cowden, 545 F.2d 257, 265-66 (1st Cir. 1976), cert. denied, 430 U.S. 909, 97 S.Ct. 1181, 51 L.Ed.2d 585 (1977). 20 In the instant case, appellants claim that Judge Motley's prior knowledge of evidence relevant to the attachment hearing rendered her impartiality reasonably questionable. We disagree. Certainly, her prior knowledge was no more extensive than that of the trial judge in Wolfson, and there is no other basis in the record for questioning her ability to be fair and impartial. 4 Judge Motley's actions were wholly proper and in accord with the law.