“I Don’t Like You”

A motion for disqualification of a court of common pleas judge was granted by the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court.

The case

The facts of the underlying case were discussed in In re Disqualification of Triggs, Supreme Court case Nos. 23-AP-167 and 24-AP-004. In brief, Cintrifuse Landlord, L.L.C., entered a lease with Panino, a restaurant owned and operated by Loreto, in which Cintrifuse promised to use its “best efforts” to obtain any approvals necessary to purchase land to build a restaurant patio in an adjacent park. However, the patio never got built; the restaurant struggled, Panino and Loreto stopped paying rent, and Cintrifuse sued for breach of contract, among other claims. Panino and Loreto counterclaimed for breach of contract, bad-faith breach of contract, and abuse of process. See Cintrifuse Landlord, L.L.C. v. Panino, L.L.C., 2022-Ohio-4104, ¶ 2-6 (1st Dist.).

Reasoning

Although adverse rulings generally do not require the disqualification of a judge, “‘a judge could be disqualified if his or her adverse rulings were accompanied by words or conduct that call into question the manner in which the proceedings are being conducted.’” Clark, 2023-Ohio-4774, at ¶ 51, quoting Knece at ¶ 10. And in addition to ignoring the mandate of a higher court and committing legal errors that have led the judge to be reversed twice—and potentially a third time on appeal of the directed verdict—Judge Triggs does not deny telling Croskery, “I don’t like you.”

“The law requires not only an impartial judge but also one who appears to the parties and the public to be impartial.” In re Disqualification of Corrigan, 2005-Ohio-7153,  Therefore, Croskery’s allegations have merit. To allay any concerns about the fairness and integrity of the proceedings and to ensure to the parties and the public the unquestioned neutrality of the trial judge, Judge Triggs is disqualified from presiding over the underlying case.

Conclusion

For these reasons, and out of an abundance of caution, the affidavit of disqualification is granted. The administrative judge of the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas, General Division, shall randomly reassign the case to another judge of the division in accordance with Sup.R. 36.019(A).

(Mike Frisch)