Court Opinion

ID: 9665825
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 00:57:59.783224+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:15:19.333098
License: Public Domain

T. E. Brennan, J.
(dissenting). I cannot agree with the decision of the Court.
The mere fact that a trial judge participated in pre-trial proceedings on the case, including requests for adjournment, should not per se disqualify the judge from hearing the case.
It is conceivable, I suppose, that protracted pretrial proceedings might involve the trial judge so deeply in the litigation that he is unable to sit impartially when the matter is finally set down for trial.
In such a case, the prejudice of the trial judge should he tested by means of a motion for his disqualification. The procedure is outlined in GCR 1963, 405.
No attempt to disqualify Judge Papp was made here. Neither was there any objection to her sitting *598as the trier of the fact. Defendant waived jury-trial.
The conviction should be affirmed, and the Court of Appeals should he reversed.
Black, J., concurred with T. E. Brennan, J.