State of Washington v. Daniel Blizzard

¶ 1 Due process requires a fair trial in a fair tribunal. Daniel Blizzard argues he was denied this basic protection after his trial judge received a letter from the county prosecutor containing inflammatory accusations of judicial bias. According to Mr. Blizzard, the letter’s contents were so explosive they rendered the trial judge incapable of fairly presiding over the proceedings.

¶2 We are unpersuaded. The judiciary is not vulnerable to manipulation by politically charged criticism. In extreme cases, hurtful, personal attacks against a judge may make recusal unavoidable. This is not such a…