Jared Martin v. R. Fisher, Jr
Filing
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ORDER DENYING PETITIONER'S MOTION TO DISQUALIFY JUDGES MICHAEL F. FITZGERALD, MARIA A. AUDERO AND OTIS D. WRIGHT MADE PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. 455 20 by Judge Otis D. Wright, II . (lc) Modified on 2/9/2021 (lc). Modified on 2/9/2021 (lc).
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United States District Court
Central District of California
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JARED MARTIN
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Petitioner,
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vs.
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R. FISHER, JR.,
Respondent.
_______________________________
Case №s 2:20-cv-09527-MWF-MAA
2:19-cv-10839-MWF-MAA
ORDER DENYING PETITIONER’S
MOTION TO DISQUALIFY JUDGES
MICHAEL F. FITZGERALD, MARIA A.
AUDERO AND OTIS D. WRIGHT MADE
PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. § 455 [DE‐
20.]
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First Petitioner Martin was dissatisfied with the OSC issued by Judge Audero so
he filed a motion to have her disqualified, essentially because he disagreed with her
order. [DE‐6.] The disqualification motion was referred to Judge Fitzgerald for
decision. Martin did not like Judge Fitzgerald decision so he filed a second motion to
disqualify Judge Fitzgerald. [DE‐14.] That motion was assigned to this Court.[DE‐18.]
This Court found the motion frivolous and denied it. [DE‐19.] Naturally that action
prompted yet a third motion to disqualify this Court. [DE‐20.] Again, on frivolous
grounds.
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Once again, Martin is cautioned that “Judicial rulings alone almost never
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constitute a valid basis for a bias or partiality motion.” See United States v. Grinnell
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Corp., 384 U.S., at 583, 86 S.Ct., at 1710. In and of themselves (i.e., apart from
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surrounding comments or accompanying opinion), they cannot possibly show
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reliance upon an extrajudicial source; and can only in the rarest circumstances
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evidence the degree of favoritism or antagonism required (. . .) when no
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extrajudicial source is involved. Almost invariably, they are proper grounds for
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appeal, not for recusal. Second, opinions formed by the judge on the basis of facts
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introduced or events occurring in the course of the current proceedings, or of prior
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proceedings, do not constitute a basis for a bias or partiality motion unless they
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display a deep‐seated favoritism or antagonism that would make fair judgment
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impossible. Liteky v. United States, 510 U.S. 540,555 114 S.Ct. 1147, 1157. (1994).
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Martin now “doubles down” on his racial bias claim, presumably it is a charge
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leveled at all three judges. In response to this Court’s observation that because no
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hearings have taken place in his cases filed in federal court, there would be no way
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for the judges to know his race, he responds by way of a flawed syllogism: “Fact,
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Compton, California is a mostly minority community. You will find few Caucasians in
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that city. Fact, the prison/jail population in this country is mostly Black men. Fact,
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that is enough information to be almost certain the petitioner is a Black male.”
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Unclear is what the relevance of Compton is to Petitioner. Unstated is
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whether Petitioner is or was a resident of Compton, and if so, it does not
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automatically follow that he is a minority merely because most people who reside in
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Compton are racial minorities. Likewise with regard to his assertion that most of the
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incarcerated persons in this country are Black men does not lead to the inescapable
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conclusion that Petitioner must be Black because he is incarcerated. And perhaps
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most important is the absence of any facts demonstrating that any of the three
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judges would find Petitioner’s race of any relevance in deciding any issue in his case.
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Like his other attempts, the instant motion is both free of facts and bereft of
merit. Therefore, as with his early attempts, the motion is DENIED.
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IT IS SO ORDERED.
DATED: February 9, 2021
_________________________________
OTIS D. WRIGHT,II
UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
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