Wonda Doe v. Gaines L. Stegall, individually and d/b/a Nottingham Place Apartments, and Betty Stegall

Summary

The Mississippi Supreme Court denied Wonda Doe’s motion for further review of the Court of Appeals’ refusal to recuse Judge T. Kenneth Griffis. The court held that a reasonable person knowing all the circumstances would not question Judge Griffis’s impartiality despite campaign statements concerning personal-injury lawyers and the Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association.

Holdings

1. A judge must recuse when the judge's impartiality might be questioned by a reasonable person knowing all the circumstances, but the record here did not establish such a reasonable basis for questioning Judge Griffis's impartiality.

Questions Presented

1. Whether Judge T. Kenneth Griffis's campaign statements and related circumstances required his recusal because a reasonable person knowing all the circumstances might question his impartiality.
2. Whether the Mississippi Court of Appeals erred in denying reconsideration of Judge Griffis's refusal to recuse himself.

Disposition

writ_denied