Opinion ID: 2276881
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Procedural Posture of the Proceedings

Text: Capano was convicted on January 17, 1999, by unanimous vote of a jury, of first degree murder of Anne Marie Fahey. After a penalty hearing, the jury, on January 28, 1999, voted 11 to 1 that the State had established beyond a reasonable doubt the statutory aggravating circumstance that the murder was premeditated and the result of substantial planning. The jury also found that the aggravating circumstances outweighed the mitigating circumstances by a vote of 10 to 2. Judge Lee, on March 16, 1999, sentenced Capano to death. Under Delaware statutory law, [2] an automatic appeal was docketed in this Court on March 22, 1999. While that automatic appeal was pending, Capano filed his own timely appeal on April 9, 1999. These appeals were later consolidated. Before further proceedings were undertaken in this Court, Capano moved to remand to the Superior Court to present a motion for new trial in the Superior Court. That motion to remand was granted on May 4, 1999, and this Court retained jurisdiction. [3] The motion for new trial was submitted to Judge Lee, after briefing and argument, on July 25, 1999. Judge Lee decided the motion in an opinion dated September 1, 1999. [4] During the time that the motion for new trial was pending, Capano sought to have Judge Lee recuse himself from further proceedings in the matter. This attempted recusal first took the form of a request in a letter from Capano's counsel dated May 7, 1999, citing a May 5, 1999 newspaper article suggesting that Judge Lee may run for Governor of Delaware, and referencing the national attention Judge Lee had received as the presiding judge in the Capano case. On May 10, 1999, Judge Lee declined the request, noting that the pending motion require[d] the attention of the judge who presided over the trial and that my ability to impartially address these issues has not been affected by the trial's impact on other aspects of my life. A second recusal request was made on May 18, 1999, citing a number of news articles appearing in various publications between May 15, 1998, and May 6, 1999. Excerpts from those publications are included in the attachments to the motion before us. A formal Motion for Recusal was filed on August 20, 1999, noting Judge Lee's July 9, 1999 suit against the State of Delaware concerning his pension and possible candidacy for Governor. The motion also included newspaper articles quoting Judge Lee as linking his possible candidacy to his role as trial judge in the Capano case. On August 24, 1999, Judge Lee again declined to recuse himself. Defense counsel wrote another letter on the subject to Judge Lee on August 25, 1999. Judge Lee responded on August 31, 1999, that he had not engaged in discussions with Republican party leaders about the possibility of seeking political office until June, well after the conclusion of the trial. He added, I will fulfill my judicial obligations by ruling on the outstanding motions for new trial. It is incumbent upon me as the trial judge to do so. The next day, Judge Lee's opinion and order denying the motion for new trial were released. Thereupon, this case was returned to this Court for disposition of the appeal on the merits. After several extensions of time and allowances for relief from page limitations, Capano's brief in support of his appeal was filed on Monday, February 28, 2000. But four days before that brief was filed, Capano filed the motion now before us. We directed the State to file an answer to the motion, which was timely filed on March 3, 2000. In its answer, the State contends that the facts as outlined by Capano would not warrant disqualification of a trial judge. But the State nevertheless concludes that [g]iven the nature of the charges leveled against the trial judge, he should be provided an opportunity to defend himself, and that [u]nder the peculiar circumstances of this case, the State therefore concurs in the application that the case be remanded.