Plyler v. State

OPINION

COATS, Chief Judge.

This case requires us to decide whether a defendant who files an application for post-conviction relief challenging a criminal conviction has the right to a peremptory challenge of the judge who presided over the trial which led to the conviction. We conclude that the defendant has no right to a peremptory challenge. Because the judge who conducted a defendant's trial would be familiar with the cireumstances of the trial, we are persuaded that it would be unwise to allow a defendant to disqualify the judge by means of a peremptory challenge. We are also persuaded by…