Opinion ID: 178000
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Claim 9: Judicial Bias

Text: Claim 9 of Lambrix's Application alleges judicial bias on the part of the state trial judge for Lambrix's second trial. In support of Claim 9, Lambrix proffers no facts linking the alleged bias to Lambrix's own case. Instead, Lambrix relies on the fact the state trial judge was found to be biased in a different case, Porter v. Singletary, 49 F.3d 1483 (11th Cir.1995), and asserts that the trial judge's bias extends to all capital defendants, Lambrix included. Lambrix brought this judicial bias claim in his 1998 successive state postconviction motion, three years after this Court's 1995 decision in Porter, even though Lambrix was represented at the time by the same counsel that represented Porter. The state courts rejected Lambrix's claim, concluding that Lambrix had brought forth no evidence the trial judge was biased in Lambrix's case. See Lambrix v. State, 39 So.3d at 273-75. As to Claim 9, we conclude that Lambrix has not made a prima facie showing as to either prong of § 2244(b)(2)(B).