Court Opinion

ID: 9777676
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 20:19:27.199544+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:32:58.963142
License: Public Domain

CRAHAN, Judge,
dissenting from denial of transfer.
I respectfully dissent from the denial of transfer. I concur fully with Judge Simon’s scholarly and thorough analysis of whether Judge Rush erred in denying the defendant’s motion to recuse himself. His failure to do so was clearly error. It could even be characterized as plainly error, or even plumb error. I cannot agree, however, that his failure to do so was “plain error” within the meaning of Rule 30.20 because I can find no indication that Judge Rush’s failure to recuse himself resulted in a “manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice.”
The reason review in this case is limited to the plain error standard is because none of the defendants filed a motion for new trial. The court’s opinion predicates plain error on the holding in State ex rel. Mountjoy v. Bonacker, 831 S.W.2d 241 (Mo. App. S.D. 1992), that upon a timely application, a trial judge lacks jurisdiction to proceed further other than to transfer the case. Similar statements can be found in cases of this court, probably even my own if I look hard enough. Mountjoy, of course was a writ case, not plain error case, and thus did not consider whether a failure to grant the motion would result in a manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice.
We do have an unfortunate tendency in writ cases to use the term “jurisdiction” a bit loosely, probably to bolster and justify using the writ. It would probably be more accurate to say the judge has no discretion to do anything except grant the motion and recuse. Or, as the court in Mountjoy, put it, upon receipt of a motion in proper order, the trial judge has a duty to sustain it. 831 S.W.2d at 244.
Our supreme court has held that a judge’s refusal to recuse himself in a criminal case does not violate due process unless the judge cannot, because of the nature or facts of the case, give the accused an impartial trial. Osborne v. Purdome, 244 S.W.2d 1005, 1013 (Mo. banc 1951), holding reaffirmed, Osborne v. Purdome, 250 S.W.2d 159, 161 (Mo. banc 1952). If it doesn’t violate due process, how can it result in a manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice? The panel found no indication that the trial judge was, in fact, biased against the defendant. Indeed, he appears to have been scrupulously fair in an extremely contentious case. He sentenced the defendants in accordance with the jury’s recommendation. In short, there is no reason to believe the result, or even any ruling, would have been different before a different judge. I would transfer this case so the Missouri Supreme Court can determine whether, absent any indication of actual bias, a trial court’s refusal to grant a motion to recuse amounts to a “manifest injustice or miscarriage of justice.”