Can I ask for a different judge

[justjess]

I have a case that I need to file for small claims. The person I will be taking to court (the defendant) has already told me that he has someone who is going to testify about a conversation (that never took place) on his behalf.

In most instances, I would rely on common sense/the obvious facts, but it turns out that the "witness," and the local judge are very good friends.

Can I ask the judge to step down in this case? This is over a $1000 that I really need and the judge's friend is supposedly going to testify that I told him I was only going the charge the defendant $300.

 

[dee_dub]

You can ask. The judge might not grant your request. Judges are expected to recuse themselves in case of conflict of interest, but simply knowing a witness isn't necessarily a conflict. The question will be whether the judge can evaluate the evidence provided by that witness impartially, and judges pride themselves (usually rightly so) on their ability to do that.

 

[KCGirl]

Another screwed up RULE OF LAW.

Somehow this country decided to rubber-stamp anything an "honorable" judge does. I thought there was only one God and he was in heaven but I guess i was wrong, at least according to the American "justice" system.

It is stupid to presume there are no crooks wearing a judge's robe. And its equally stupid to ask a crook if he will admit he's a crook so you can get a fair deal.

I guess that doesn't fit too well with the story the flag-waving hypocrites would have you believe but hey, if you can't stand the truth too damn bad.

"A judge is supposed to recuse himself". That equates to a crook is supposed to admit he's a crook so he's sure that the sucker he's screwing over gets a fair deal. Yeah, right. Another American fairytale.

 

[BenBrent]

there's not much you can expect when the National Socialist American Workers party runs the country