In re Disqualification of Miller
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IN RE DISQUALIFICATION OF MILLER. CORUM 1986-1 PRIVATE DEVELOPMENT DRILLING PARTNERSHIP ET AL. v. HOPCO RESOURCES, INC. [Cite as In re Disqualification of Miller (1997), 81 Ohio St.3d 1209.] Judges Affidavit of disqualification Disqualification not required where judge has personal dating relationship with a member of the same firm as counsel for the plaintiffs Canon 3(C)(1)(d)(ii) not violated. (No. 97-AP-045 Decided April 14, 1997.) ON AFFIDAVIT OF DISQUALIFICATION in Franklin County Court of Common Pleas case No. 96CVH-04-2688. MOYER, C.J. This affidavit of disqualification was filed by John Keller, counsel for defendant, seeking the disqualification of Judge Nodine M. Miller from further proceedings in the above-captioned case. Affiant claims that Judge Miller should be disqualified from the pending case because she has a personal dating relationship with a member of the same law firm as counsel for the plaintiffs in the underlying case. Affiant asserts that this relationship requires Judge Miller s disqualification pursuant to Canon 3(C)(1)(d)(ii) of the Code of Judicial Conduct and because her impartiality in this case might reasonably be questioned. Canon 3(C)(1)(d)(ii) mandates a judge s disqualification from a pending case where a judge s spouse acts as a lawyer in a pending proceeding before that judge. In applying this provision, the Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline, in Advisory Opinion No. 91-8, held that a judge s disqualification is not required where an attorney who practices law with the judge s spouse appears before the judge. Regardless of the nature and extent of Judge Miller s relationship with an attorney who practices law in the plaintiffs law firm, there is no indication that this attorney is serving as counsel in the underlying case. Accordingly, Judge Miller s disqualification is not warranted by Canon 3 of the Code of Judicial Conduct, and I cannot conclude, based on the affidavit filed by counsel for the defendant, that there exists a reasonable question regarding Judge Miller s impartiality in this matter. The affidavit of disqualification is found not well taken and is denied. The case shall proceed before Judge Miller.
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