Opinion
SC 165233 (88) COA 360693
10-04-2024
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. JEFFERY SCOTT ARMSTRONG, Defendant-Appellee.
Wayne CC: 21-003294-FH
Elizabeth T. Clement, Chief Justice Brian K. Zahra, David F. Viviano, Richard H. Bernstein, Megan K. Cavanagh, Elizabeth M. Welch, Kyra H. Bolden, Justices
ORDER
On order of Justice Brian K. Zahra, the motion of defendant-appellee to disqualify him from further participation in this case is DENIED for the following reason:
MCR 2.003(C)(1)(g)(ii) provides that disqualification is warranted when "[t]he judge or the judge's spouse, or a person within the third degree of relationship to either of them, or the spouse of such a person … is acting as a lawyer in the proceeding." My relative by marriage is not acting as a lawyer in the proceedings before this Court so as to require my recusal. I therefore have a duty to participate in the decision of this case. See Adair v State Dept of Education, 474 Mich. 1027, 1040-41 (2006). In the absence of grounds warranting disqualification, "disqualification is not optional; rather, it is prohibited." Id., 1041 (quoting In re Aguinda, 241 F.3d 194, 201 [CA 2, 2001]).