State v. Waters

Generally, an affidavit of prejudice must be filed before a case is set for trial in a one-judge county. RCW 4.12.050. And, as we will conclude, an affidavit of prejudice against a visiting judge in a one-judge county is timely if filed before the judge has made a discretionary ruling.

Okanogan County is a one-judge county. During a Thursday afternoon pretrial conference, the resident judge, Judge Jack Burchard, told the lawyer for defendant Thomas Waters that he would not be presiding over Mr. Waters’ trial the following Monday and that a substitute judge, Judge Kenneth Jorgensen, would…