Opinion ID: 1149229
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: whether the trial court committed reversible error in denying duplantis' motion to recuse.

Text: ¶ 88. Duplantis filed a motion to recuse based upon Judge Gordon's relationship to Rex Gordon, Jr., one of the attorneys appointed by Judge Gordon to represent Duplantis at his first trial. Rex Gordon, Jr. is the nephew of Judge Gordon. Prior to Judge Gordon's ascendance onto the bench, the two were law partners. Judge Gordon denied Duplantis' motion. ¶ 89. This Court presumes that a judge, sworn to administer impartial justice, is qualified and unbiased. To overcome the presumption, the evidence must produce a reasonable doubt about the validity of the presumption. Turner v. State, 573 So.2d 657, 678 (Miss. 1990). Duplantis fails to offer any evidence to indicate Judge Gordon was biased in any way. His decisions were sound and his judgment fair. Therefore, this assignment is rejected.