Court Opinion

ID: 9644439
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 20:56:30.874063+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:45:03.235304
License: Public Domain

WIEAND, Judge,
dissenting:
After a full hearing, the trial court dismissed petitions filed by appellant David Armor, to reduce and by appéllee, Joy Armor Stanziani, to increase an order previously entered in Montgomery County which directed appellant to pay $75.00 per week for the support of two children residing with appellee.
A majority of this Court finds no merit in appellant’s contention that the evidence demonstrated a change in circumstances entitling him to a reduction in the amount of the order. The majority also concludes that appellant has not *363demonstrated a single instance of bias, prejudice or unfairness on the part of the judge who heard the case. Notwithstanding these conclusions, the case is remanded for another hearing before an out-of-county judge. The only reason given for the remand order is an appearance of impropriety which the majority finds because the hearing judge and the recently acquired second husband of appellee were judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County. This in my judgment is an inadequate basis on which to compel disqualification as a matter of law; and therefore, I dissent.
Canon 3C-1 of the Code of Judicial Conduct adopted by The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania suggests that a “judge should disqualify himself in a proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned, including but not limited to [certain enumerated instances.]” The present fact pattern is not one of the enumerated situations. Indeed, the enumerated situations are not sufficiently similar to be of any assistance in resolving the need or advisability of disqualification in the instant case.
The public expects and has a right to demand a high degree of integrity and ethical responsibility on the part of its judges. There can be no doubt that all judicial proceedings must be free from appearances of impropriety. Therefore, a judge should not participate in proceedings in which his or her objectivity and impartiality are likely to be impaired. On the other hand, the public also expects courage and independence on the part of its judges. It is the individual judge who must in the first instance determine whether in good conscience and judgment he or she can hear a dispute objectively and impartially, or whether there should be a recusal. His or her decision will not be disturbed unless there is an abuse of discretion. Crawford’s Estate, 307 Pa. 102, 160 A. 585 (1931). The public is entitled to the independent judgment of its judiciary and should not be denied that judgment by unsupported claims of partiality.
In my judgment, public confidence in the judiciary will be strengthened, not weakened, by respecting and upholding the trial judge’s determination that he could hear and decide *364the instant case impartially. Public confidence is not weakened because judges are called upon to hear and decide difficult and controversial cases. The public does expect, however, that judges will rise above any influence which is inherent in the high or low estate of litigants who come before them. Courage and integrity are the hallmarks of an independent judiciary. More often than we like to contemplate, it is recusals too readily tendered in complex and controversial cases which weaken public respect for the judiciary.
It is possible, of course, that another judge may have found it prudent to recuse himself or herself under the circumstances of this case. If, in the exercise of that judge’s best judgment and conscience, his or her objectivity would have been impaired because of acquaintanceship with appellee’s husband, then certainly disqualification would be the better course to follow. It is the judge who must hear the case, however, who can best determine whether it is likely that his or her impartiality will be compromised. This is not always an easy decision to make. When a decision has been reached to hear an issue, that decision should not be set aside lightly because of unsupported claims of bias.
There is an aspect of the majority’s solution which also troubles me. If occupancy of the trial bench by appellee’s husband and the judge assigned to hear the case is sufficient to create an appearance of impropriety and partiality, which judge in our unified judicial system can hear the case without being subject to similar criticism? To say that the appearance of impropriety, which the majority finds in the instant case, will be less obvious if an out-of-county judge is assigned to hear the case will not suffice. This solution to the majority’s perception of an apparent impropriety would only make the appearance of impropriety less obvious. However, such a solution would not keep the judiciary above reproach.
The better rule, therefore, would seem to be that when a judge is called upon to hear a case affecting the interests of the family or household of another judge, as well as one in *365which a member of the legal profession is involved, disqualification in the absence of additional evidence of personal bias or prejudice should not be mandatory. In such cases the appearance of propriety, as well as the reality thereof, will depend on the personality of the judge, and not upon the geographical location where he customarily presides.
One who asserts that a trial judge should be disqualified has the burden of producing evidence which demonstrates a necessity for disqualification. Commonwealth v. Perry, 468 Pa. 515, 364 A.2d 312 (1976); Appeal of Askounes, 144 Pa.Super. 293, 19 A.2d 846 (1941). This has not been shown in the instant case. The record discloses no interest, pecuniary or otherwise, that would compromise the hearing judge’s impartiality. Except that they are two of twelve judges in Montgomery County, there is no evidence that the hearing judge and appellee’s husband are close or even casual friends. We do not know if they share common interests and concerns, or belong to the same church, clubs, or other community organizations. As the majority concedes, the record discloses no prejudice, bias or unfairness in evidentiary rulings or in the judge’s handling of the hearing. His decision, moreover, has been found to be proper and consistent with the evidence. Under these circumstances I perceive no abuse of discretion by the trial judge, and no reason to believe that a rehearing before an out-of-county judge would produce a more acceptable result. Cf. Commonwealth v. Perry, supra; Appeal of Askounes, supra; Davenport v. Meyer, 4 Lebanon 185 (1953).
Because appellant has produced no reasonable basis for challenging the impartiality of the judge who heard the instant case, and because his decision, as the majority concedes, was unbiased and fully supported by the evidence, I would affirm both the order and the proceedings which produced it.
HESTER, J., joins in this opinion.