People v. Clark

Facts Pertaining To Alleged Judicial Bias Prior to trial, defendant moved to disqualify the judge presiding over the trial because he had learned the judge and prosecutor were currently involved in a student outreach program wherein they visited classrooms together with a defense attorney. They had completed three classroom visits and would complete one more before participating in a moot court together. Thereafter, defendant alleged the judge adopted the prosecutor’s juror questionnaire with minor changes without considering defendant’s questionnaire. Based on these facts, defendant argued the judge “demonstrated a bias in favor of [the prosecutor] and against defendant and/or defense counsel.” (Capitalization and bolding omitted.)

2 The judge answered defendant’s motion, denying the allegations of judicial bias. The judge explained that the prosecutor “was a volunteer attorney for a program [she had] been involved with for many years. The program is called ‘First Impressions’. It involves a Judge and a couple of attorneys teaching a fifth-grade class about the Constitution and criminal justice. It entails four visits to the classroom for about 45 minutes each session…