Whitaker v. McLean

In a colloquy with counsel, during the trial though in the absence of the jury, the judge who tried this case made remarks which caused the plaintiff’s attorney to express the opinion that he could not very well go on because the judge’s remarks evidenced bias and prejudice. At the conclusion of the colloquy, the trial proceeded, and at the close of the testimony, the judge directed a verdict for the defendant. The plaintiff appeals.

The judge may, as indeed he insisted, have felt no hostility to the plaintiff, and in that view he was, subjectively, free from bias. But bias must be considered…