Opinion ID: 1115282
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 17

Heading: invalidity of precedent cited by majority

Text: The cases cited by the majority lack both comparability and persuasion for the factual situation presented here. Ingram v. Grimes, 213 Ga. 652, 100 S.E.2d 914 (1957) cannot be applied factually since the challenged comment of the court came after the verdict which, under the law of the State of Georgia, would have disqualified him from presiding at a subsequent retrial of the case. The issue presented was disqualification to enter the sentence and involved nothing in the nature of new evidence or a hearing relating to a new trial. Johnson v. State, 46 Ga. App. 494, 167 S.E. 900 (1933) is no more helpful since the finite decision of the appellate court was to reverse the trial court in denial of the new trial and then since a new trial was granted on another ground, the judge by statute would be disqualified from presiding at that retrial. A jocular comment as an attempt at levity to ease the tensions    of the case did not suffice for mandatory recusal in Shaw v. State, 276 S.C. 190, 277 S.E.2d 140, 141 (1981). Nevertheless, a different judge conducted the post-conviction relief proceeding in the case. A bail hearing determination required by rule provided standards in advance of the jury trial is likewise neither comparable nor relevant. Com. v. Strunge, 287 Pa.Super. 212, 429 A.2d 1176 (1981). Similarly, I would then reject the last citation where the only issue raised as a bias argument involved the trial judge's knowledge of the prior record of the defendant. State v. Kimmel, 202 Kan. 303, 448 P.2d 19 (1968). Any reasonable faith in judicial fairness and practical facts recognize that in areas of small population like Wyoming, the judge is exposed to a generic knowledge of persons who come into court as participants in the community society. The foregoing cases provided the total authority utilized by the majority to establish judicial rules regarding ethics, bias and predetermination. The opinion of this court, dicta or volunteered as it may be, raised issues of future use and relevance which pose most serious concerns and particularly so if used not only to palliate what happened here but to set a standard for future application and interpretation of the 1990 Wyoming Code of Judicial Conduct.