Cochrane v. Brown

Defendant appeals as of right from the trial court’s order denying his request for a change of custody of his minor children. He also requests that, in the event we remand the matter, we order that it be assigned to a different judge. • We vacate the order of the trial court and remand for further proceedings, but decline to require that a new judge hear the case.

The trial court based its decision on its review of the file and transcripts of the hearing before the referee of the friend of the court, but declined to conduct its own hearing de novo. The court adopted the findings of fact and…