Opinion
Criminal Action No. 11-po-1133-KMT
10-11-2011
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. 1. CAMERON JORDAN McARTHUR, Defendant.
Magistrate Judge Kathleen M. Tafoya
ORDER
This matter comes before the court sua sponte based upon issues raised by the Defendant at the detention hearing on October 10, 2011. Because the allegations in this case concern events which allegedly transpired at the federal courthouse in Denver, Colorado, there may be a reasonable basis for calling the impartiality of any of the Magistrate Judges sitting in Denver into question pursuant to Title 28, U.S.C. § 455. In applying § 455(a), a judge's actual state of mind, purity of heart, incorruptibility, or lack of partiality are not the issue, but rather whether a reasonable person, knowing all the relevant facts, would harbor doubts about the judge's impartiality. United States v. Cooley, 1 F.3d 985, 993 (10th Cir.1993) (citations omitted).
Cognizant of both the duty to disqualify and the duty to sit, as well as the requisite determinations regarding these duties which must be made here, I will exercise my responsibility to recuse myself from this case. Magistrate Judge David L. West, who predominately presides over matters occurring in the Durango, Colorado and western slope area, has expressed his agreement to preside over this matter.
IT IS ORDERED
The Clerk of the Court shall reassign this case to Magistrate Judge David L. West for all further proceedings.
Dated this 13th day of October, 2011.
BY THE COURT:
Kathleen M. Tafoya
United States Magistrate Judge