Opinion ID: 1562759
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Denial of Recusal Motion

Text: Appellant next claims that the PCRA judge, Judge Thomas J. Doerr, should have recused himself because he formerly served in the Butler County Public Defender's Office up until the fall of 1986, when he left to become a District Justice. Appellant questions Judge Doerr's impartiality because of his prior relationship with Attorneys Goldinger and Morgan, who represented Ferry and White, respectively, and due to the fact that appellate counsel replaced him at the Public Defender's Office when he left to become a District Justice. Quoting Commonwealth v. O'Shea, 523 Pa. 384, 567 A.2d 1023, 1034 (1989), appellant contends that [w]here a judge has personal knowledge of disputed facts ... in a proceeding, the judge should disqualify him or herself from further proceedings. The Commonwealth counters that appellant presented no evidence which would raise doubts as to Judge Doerr's impartiality. In his July 16, 2004 memorandum opinion and order, Judge Doerr appraised his own ability to be fair and impartial as unaffected by the relationships he may or may not have had when serving as a public defender and stated that he had no involvement with appellant's case or any of appellant's witnesses. Hence, Judge Doerr dismissed appellant's motion for recusal. Recently, in Blakeney, supra, we discussed the standards governing recusal: [A] trial judge should recuse himself whenever he has any doubt as to his ability to preside impartially in a criminal case or whenever he believes his impartiality can be reasonably questioned. Commonwealth v. Goodman, 454 Pa. 358, 311 A.2d 652, 654 (1973). It is presumed that the judge has the ability to determine whether he will be able to rule impartially and without prejudice, and his assessment is personal, unreviewable, and final. Commonwealth v. Druce, 577 Pa. 581, 848 A.2d 104, 108 (2004). Where a jurist rules that he or she can hear and dispose of a case fairly and without prejudice, that decision will not be overturned on appeal but for an abuse of discretion. Commonwealth v. Abu-Jamal, 553 Pa. 485, 720 A.2d 79, 89 (1998). Blakeney, 946 A.2d at 662 (alteration in original). Additionally, [i]t is the burden of the party requesting recusal to produce evidence establishing bias, prejudice or unfairness which raises a substantial doubt as to the jurist's ability to preside impartially. Commonwealth v. White, 589 Pa. 642, 910 A.2d 648, 657 (2006) (quoting Commonwealth v. Abu-Jamal, 553 Pa. 485, 720 A.2d 79, 89 (1998)). Here, appellant has not met the burden for demonstrating partiality, bias, or an abuse of discretion. The bare fact that Judge Doerr served in the Public Defender's Office prior to appellate counsel's tenure there, and with attorneys whose former clients subsequently testified at appellant's trial after Judge Doerr left the Public Defender's Office, are insufficient reasons to require recusal as a matter of lawwhich is appellant's essential position. Stating that he had no prior knowledge or contact with appellant's case, Judge Doerr appropriately determined that he could preside over appellant's PCRA petition impartially. Our review of appellant's laundry list of claims reveals nothing untoward. Therefore, the PCRA court did not abuse its discretion in denying appellant's recusal motion.