I was given some advice by a lawyer today at court that I should get a different judge than the one I was assigned.
He said I should “Motion for a change of Judge,” and “serve it on the Prosecuting Attny.”
Now I know this means to ask for a different Judge, specify which Judge I want, and deliver a copy unto the prosecutors.
What should my motion contain?
Thanks for any help.
–Tim
Homer, I’ve enjoyed reading your posts, and I would like to be helpful, but as several lawyers said in response to your last post on this case, you need a lawyer. These aren’t the kind of questions that can be effectively answered through the SDMB.
Said another way, I could answer this in three ways. The best answer, as I wrote above, is for you to get a lawyer.
Alternatively, I could a) figure out what state you are in; b) try to locate your state’s code of civil procedure online, which might require Westlaw charges; c) find the specific provision governing motions for substitution of judge; d) determine whether these are granted as a matter of right in your state or whether the movant must establish bias (or other grounds) on the part of the judge; e) if necessary, develop the facts showing bias or other basis for the motion; f) rework one of my Illinois motions to fit your state’s rule; g)forward it to you; and h) alert my malpractice carrier and your state’s disciplinary committee that I have practiced law without a license in your state.
Sorry, but no can do.
That leaves the last possible response, which I do not recommend. Use the outline I gave you above and follow it yourself. You might find a formbook in your county law library to replace (f). Good luck.
One correction: If I recall correctly, you case is a quasi-criminal matter. You would want the code of criminal procedure, not civil procedure.
Ha! This tells me one of two things:
(i) You were talking to some guy out in the hallway or something, and when you found out he was a lawyer, you started pestering him with your story about how the legal system is screwing you. He, having been through this over and over again with pro se litigants, figured that the easiest way to get you off his back was to give you a project to focus on. Since you had probably ranted on and on and embelished dramatically how the judge was being so unfair, he told you that you should try to get a new judge knowing perfectly well that it would shut you up and that such a motion wouldn’t be granted in a hundred billion years.
or
(ii) You were talking to an escaped mental patient pretending to be a lawyer.
Sarcasm aside, forget about moving to have the judge recuse himself. To get that kind of motion granted, you have to show concrete evidence demonstrating that the judge is not impartial. It is NOT enough to say that the judge: has yelled at you; has not let you do what you wanted to do; is impatient or patronizing with you; has a personal dislike of you (unless you have some sort of relationship with him outside the courthouse); and/or has recommended that you take a plea. I’d bet a dollar that one or more of those is the basis for your motion.
The motion to recuse the judge is one that only crackpot pro se litigants make. Most real lawyers will never have a reason to make such a motion even once in their entire careers, and most of the few that ever do have a reason to don’t actually make the motion because it is rarely granted and it pisses off the judge. After all, you’re accusing him of not only (i) being biased, but also that (ii) he doesn’t even know he’s being biased, and (iii) you do.
Hee hee! Now I know the guy was funnin’ with you. “Specify which Judge I want”? Even if you’re right; even if your judge is so biased that his nose bleeds for a week to ten days after he rules; even if God in Heaven above points his hand at your side of the courtroom; even if every man, woman, and child held hands together and prayed for you to win your motion, it still wouldn’t matter because you don’t get to select your own judge. The Court clerk would just reassign you to a different judge randomly. And that judge would look at the file, wonder why you made such a big deal out of it before, and be just as biased against you as the first judge because you’re acting like a paranoid nut (or worse, a guy who’s guilty and is just trying to get out of it by being a pain in the neck).
As I understand it, this is all about a speeding ticket, right? Here’s some free legal advice: call the Prosecutor, and ask him what the best plea he can offer you is. Then take it. It’ll be fewer points on your license, and you may get a break on the fine, too. Hell, I’m a lawyer and that’s what I do when I get a speeding ticket.
You are not going to get out of it no matter how crafty you may think your legal wrangling is. Others have tried it before you and failed, and anyone who says they managed to get themselves off a speeding ticket because the cop didn’t send his supporting deposition, or because he couldn’t produce the radar calibration slip, or because he couldn’t recall how many passengers were in the car with you is full of shit. You’d have better luck trying this method.
Tim- you’ve probably received well over $ 150.00 ++ in free and wise legal advice from Random and Nurlman just in the time it took for them to look at, consider, and draft responses to your post. I respect you as a bright young man and an inkjet printer maven but YANAFL (You Are Not A F*ing Lawyer) so cut the nonsense and either get one or call the prosecutor and cut a deal, otherwise per your tag line you will likely get some real experience in just how wide your legal anus can be stretched.
Nurlman,
While I heartily applaud the vast majority of sentiments expressed in your post, it’s worth pointing out, from a nitpicker’s perspective, that there are jurisdictions which permit one substitution of judge motion as a matter of right.
I have this mole which might be malignant melanoma and I’d like to remove myself. What is the best way for me to do this surgery myself?
I always use an ice cube and toenail clippers, myself.
did I mention it was in the middle of my back?
Okay, ya smart asses.
After my case was reviewed, the lawyer called me over and asked me what I was doing. I explained the situation to him, and he gave me that advice. It also turns out we’re from the same area and know some of the same people. He’s just a few years older than me, also.
He called me at about 7 and said he was interested in my case. He had researched it some and was intrigued by it. He offered to try to plea me down to non-moving, and said if I wanted to pay him for it, it was up to me. So basically, he offered his services to me for free, but I told him I’d pay him his normal fees anyway. He said “Yeah, it’s up to you. Pay me or don’t, whatever you want to do.”
But he said he’ll try his ass off to get it down to a non moving, because he said I seemed like a smart kid (just smart enough to get myself in alot of trouble, he says), and didn’t want to see me get royally screwed over.
Thank God for Mr. Blaine.
–Tim
Also, I think he had overheard how the judge basically told me that she would disallow any evidence I would try to enter. I don’t think he liked that. And he said that I had some really good points when we discussed what I had planned as my defense, but since the judge was going to disallow everything, they’d never fly.
And might I say, BRICKER! Don’t make yourself such a stranger!
–Tim