Woodman

In this proceeding in mandate, we are asked to overrule the decision of this division in Zdonek v. Superior Court (1974) 38 Cal.App.3d 849 [ 113 Cal.Rptr. 669 ], which decided when a motion must be made under Code of Civil Procedure section 170.6 to disqualify a judge for prejudice in a case assigned from a master calendar court to a trial department for all purposes. Our decision, by a divided court, was criticized and its holding rejected by the Fourth District in Augustyn v. Superior Court (1986) 186 Cal.App.3d 1221 [ 231 Cal.Rptr. 298 ]. On reflection, we are persuaded that Zdonek was wrongly decided, abandon the rule set forth therein, follow Augustyn , and grant the relief sought by this petition.

Petitioners Neil Woodman and Stewart Woodman are defendants in a criminal action christened “the black ninja case,” a high publicity death penalty case. On July 16, 1986, the case was before Judge Munoz, supervising judge of the criminal departments of the Los Angeles Superior Courts, sitting in Department 100.

It was the policy of Judge Munoz and the superior court to assign such cases out of Department 100 to a named judge for all purposes, including trial. This…