Arend v. State

Full title: Brian W. AREND, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

Court: District Court of Appeal of Florida, Fourth District.

Date published: Sep 24, 2014

149 So. 3d 126 (Fla. Dist. Ct. App. 2014)

Opinion

No. 4D14–2488.

2014-09-24

Brian W. AREND, Petitioner, v. STATE of Florida, Respondent.

Petition for writ of prohibition to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Barbara McCarthy, Judge; L.T. Case No. 13–1213CF 10A. Michael D. Weinstein of Michael D. Weinstein, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for petitioner. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Angela E. Noble, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for respondent.

PER CURIAM.

Petition for writ of prohibition to the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit, Broward County; Barbara McCarthy, Judge; L.T. Case No. 13–1213CF 10A.
Michael D. Weinstein of Michael D. Weinstein, P.A., Fort Lauderdale, for petitioner. Pamela Jo Bondi, Attorney General, Tallahassee, and Angela E. Noble, Assistant Attorney General, West Palm Beach, for respondent.
PER CURIAM.

The petition for writ of prohibition is granted. Petitioner's motion to disqualify the trial judge was legally sufficient. SeeFla. R. Jud. Admin. 2.330(d)(1). The facts alleged would prompt a reasonably prudentperson to fear that he could not get a fair hearing. See MacKenzie v. Super Kids Bargain Store, Inc., 565 So.2d 1332, 1335 (Fla.1990); Franco v. State, 777 So.2d 1138, 1140 (Fla. 4th DCA 2001) (recognizing that a judge's hostility toward counsel can, in some circumstances, provide a reasonable basis for a client to fear bias); Hayslip v. Douglas, 400 So.2d 553, 556 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981). STEVENSON, GROSS and TAYLOR, JJ., concur.