The defendant brought a motion requesting the presiding judge recuse himself because the judge, prior to his appointment, had briefly represented the defendant's counsel and had also represented the local police service in a matter involving the same counsel.
The Criminal Lawyers' Association intervened, arguing for an automatic disqualification rule when a judge's former client appears as counsel.
The court rejected the automatic disqualification argument, applying the standard test for reasonable apprehension of bias.
Finding that the prior retainers were over 20 years old and did not raise a reasonable apprehension of bias, the court dismissed the recusal motion.
