Opinion ID: 1594768
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: whether sdcl 15-12-26 requires a showing of actual prejudice to support an affidavit for removal of a judge.

Text: The procedure to obtain a change of judge in any action, be it civil or criminal, is simple and clear. See SDCL ch. 15-12. If any party or attorney desires a change of judge they must first informally (by letter, oral communication or on the record in open court or chambers) request the judge to disqualify himself. SDCL 15-12-21.1. The person seeking to disqualify the judge cannot be required to state his reasons, and although opposing litigants are to receive copies of correspondence or be apprised of any communications, they cannot contest the request. SDCL 15-12-21.1. If the judge grants the request, the presiding circuit judge is notified and a replacement judge is assigned. If the judge denies the request, he must so notify the parties or attorneys in writing. Under SDCL 15-12-22, the party or attorney whose informal attempts at changing judge have been denied, may file an affidavit seeking to disqualify the judge. SDCL 15-12-26 sets forth the form and content of such affidavits, stating: An affidavit for change of judge or magistrate shall state the title of the action and shall recite that the affidavit is made in good faith and not for the purpose of securing delay, that in the ordinary course of litigation such action or some issue therein is expected to come on for trial before such judge or magistrate sought to be disqualified; that the party making such affidavit has good reason to believe and does actually believe that such party cannot have a fair and impartial trial before the named judge or magistrate. Only one judge or magistrate shall be named in such affidavit. It shall not be necessary to state in such affidavit the ground or reason for such belief. (Emphasis added.) After the affidavit has been properly served and filed, it is submitted to the presiding circuit judge who reviews it under SDCL 15-12-32. If the presiding judge determines that the affidavit is timely and that the right to file the affidavit has not been waived or is not otherwise legally defective, he shall assign the case to another circuit judge. Our rule [2] does not require a specific showing that the judge against whom disqualification is sought is, in reality, prejudiced. This has not always been the case. South Dakota, prior to amending its procedure, previously required that the affiant had reason to believe that a fair and impartial trial or hearing cannot be had before said judge by reason of the prejudice or bias of such judge. (Emphasis added.) See 1927 S.D.Sess.L. ch. 89, § 2. This court, by rule, amended the former statute, deleting the prejudice or bias language. From that point forward, proof of prejudice was no longer required. SDCL 15-12-26, as it currently reads, is silent as to whether the good faith of the affiant is to be analyzed from an objective or subjective viewpoint. It merely states that the affidavit must be made in good faith and not for the purpose of delay and that the affiant has good reason to believe and does actually believe that the party cannot have a fair and impartial trial before the judge against whom disqualification is sought. The rule also specifically states that it is not necessary that the affiant state the grounds or reasons for his belief. (It must be remembered, too, that under SDCL 15-12-21.1 the person seeking an informal disqualification cannot be required to state his reasons.) Under SDCL 15-12-32, the presiding judge must review the affidavit but the rule does not require that the presiding judge look behind the face of the affidavit to determine the objective good faith of the affiant. The record here reflects that the presiding judge complied with SDCL 15-12-32. Reading SDCL ch. 15-12, as a whole, we believe that an affiant (be he a prosecutor, defense counsel or defendant in a criminal action or an attorney or litigant in a civil action) must not be subjected to an objective standard in order to determine whether the affidavit was made in good faith. Rather, all that is required is that the affiant in his own mind actually and in good faith believes that he cannot have a fair and impartial trial before the named judge. Thus, the trial court's attempt here to require an objective standard for determining an affiant's (Groff's) good faith was erroneous, necessitating reversal.