Opinion ID: 1576386
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Judicial Pretrial Bias.

Text: Defendant's final claim concerns the question of whether the trial judge abused his discretion by not recusing himself after having made some pretrial remarks to the effect that the defendant was obviously guilty of something. These remarks occurred at the defendant's bond review hearing after the trial court had reviewed the minutes of testimony. Defendant argues that these remarks constituted reversible error. We do not agree. There is a substantial burden imposed on one who seeks to prove that the trial judge is not impartial. State v. Smith, 282 N.W.2d 138, 142 (Iowa 1979). Furthermore, the decision of the trial judge will not be overturned unless there has been an abuse of discretion. State v. Harry, 311 N.W.2d 108, 109 (Iowa 1981); State v. Smith, 242 N.W.2d 320, 324 (Iowa 1976). In order to constitute the prejudice necessitating a different judge, [t]he alleged bias and prejudice ... must stem from an extrajudicial source and result in an opinion on the merits on some basis other than what the judge learned from his participation in the case. State v. Smith, 282 N.W.2d at 142 (citing United States v. Grinnell Corp., 384 U.S. 563, 583, 86 S.Ct. 1698, 1710, 16 L.Ed.2d 778, 793 (1966); see also State v. Harry, 311 N.W.2d at 109. In this case the defendant has failed to demonstrate any personal bias stemming from an extrajudicial source. The trial court's statements were made in a pretrial hearing from information gained during the course of the present proceeding against defendant. We agree the judge's statements were ill-advised if taken out of context. It might be argued, however, that he was only expressing his opinion that, if the minutes of testimony were established, defendant was guilty of something. In any event, the remarks were without prejudice to defendant. The case was tried to a jury. Defendant does not claim any improper or biased conduct of the trial judge during the trial. The judge's comments, made in chambers with only counsel present did not deprive defendant of a fair and impartial trial. Finding no reversible error, we affirm the judgment. AFFIRMED.