Doe v. Stegall
| Docket Number: | 2001-CA-01674-SCT Linked Case(s): 2001-CA-01674-COA ; 2001-CA-01674-SCT ; 2001-CA-01674-SCT ; 2001-CT-01674-SCT |
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| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 04-15-2004 |
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| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Recusal of judge Judge(s) Concurring: Smith, C.J., Cobb, P.J., Easley and Dickinson, JJ. Non Participating Judge(s): Waller, P.J., Diaz and Graves, JJ. Procedural History: Motion for Rehearing Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY |
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| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 09-25-2001 Appealed from: Hinds County Circuit Court Judge: W. Swan Yerger Case Number: 251-94-410 |
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| Consolidated: 1998-CA-01058-COA Wonda Doe v. Gaines L. Stegall, Individually and d/b/a Nottingham Place Apartments, Nottingham Place Apartments, Gaines W. Stegall and Betty Stegall; Hinds Circuit Court 1st District; LC Case #: 94410CIV; Ruling Date: 04/28/1998; Ruling Judge: W. Swan Yerger | ||
| Note: | Appellant's Motion for Rehearing is denied insofar as it seeks recusal of Chief Justice James W. Smith, Jr. Appellant's Motion for Rehearing is denied insofar as it seeks recusal of Presiding Justice Kay B. Cobb. Appellant's Motion for Rehearing is denied insofar as it seeks recusal of Justice George C. Carlson, Jr. | |
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | |||
| Appellant: | Wonda Doe |
RICK D. PATT
SHANE F. LANGSTON |
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| Appellee: | Gaines L. Stegall, Individually and d/b/a Nottingham Place Apartments and Betty Stegall | JASON HOOD STRONG ROBERT S. ADDISON |
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Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
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| Topic: | Recusal of judge |
| Summary of the Facts: | Wonda Doe filed a motion to review the refusal of Court of Appeals Judge T. Kenneth Griffis to recuse himself from this case and the order of the Court of Appeals denying reconsideration of that refusal. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Doe’s Motion for Recusal focused on two incidents occurring during Judge Griffis’s successful 2002 judicial campaign for the position he now occupies on the Court of Appeals. The first was that Judge Griffis distributed campaign fliers which stated, inter alia, that Judge Griffis “would ‘fight the special interest groups – like the personal injury lawyers who have created the ‘lawsuit industry.’” The other campaign issue pertained to Judge Griffis having referred to his judicial campaign opponent as a former President of the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association, a position previously held by Doe’s attorney. The test for recusal is whether a reasonable person, knowing all the circumstances, would harbor doubts about the judge's impartiality. Judge Griffis's voting record during his tenure on the Court of Appeals does not indicate that he lacks impartiality towards a personal injury plaintiff represented by a personal injury lawyer. In fact, in the current case, Judge Griffis not only voted in Doe’s favor on the merits by concurring with the majority opinion which reversed and remanded the case to the trial court, thus keeping Doe’s case viable, but Judge Griffis also wrote a separate concurring opinion to offer guidance to the trial court upon remand. Therefore, a reasonable person, knowing all the circumstances, could not question Judge Griffis’s impartiality. |
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