Jefferson-El v. State

ROBERT M. BELL, Judge.

We granted the petition for writ of certiorari filed by Barry A. Jefferson-El, the petitioner, to consider when a trial judge, accused by a defendant of being partial against , him, must grant the defendant’s recusal motion to avoid the appearance of impropriety. A divided panel of the Court of Special Appeals held, in an unpublished opinion, that the facts and circumstances of the present case did not mandate recusal. We shall reverse.

I

Because, to a significant degree, the issue involves appearances, it is necessary that we set out in some detail the circumstances under…