Marriage To Police Officer Does Not Establish Bias

A trial judge was not obligated to recuse himself in a criminal matter because he is married to a police office, according to a decision of the Nebraska Supreme Court

A judge must disqualify himself or herself whenever the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned. However, absent any direct personal connection to the proceeding, a judge’s disqualification is not required as a matter of law. Because neither the trial judge nor the judge’s spouse had any direct personal connection to the proceeding, we find no error in the district court’s decision.

Defendant had filed a timely motion to disqualify the judge

At the hearing on the motion, Ezell offered an affidavit in support, which was received by the court. Ezell averred, in part, that the officers were classified as “‘victims’” of the crimes for which Ezell was charged and that he learned the trial judge was “married to a law-enforcement officer, specifically, an active, on-the-job Douglas County Sheriff’s Deputy with extensive experience in criminal investigations and extensive professional relationships with other law enforcement agencies/officials/officers in the Omaha, Douglas County, Nebraska area.” Ezell contended in his affidavit that because the trial judge’s spouse was a law-enforcement officer, “and [because] the State alleges that [he] committed serious and violent crimes directly against law-enforcement officers, the circumstances of the matter demonstrate that the Judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” No other evidence was offered by Ezell or the State.

The case is STATE V. EZELL, 314 Neb. 825 (Mike Frisch)