Buccola v. Boucher

Background

Theresa I. Buccola asked Judge Nathanael Cousins to recuse himself—meaning to step aside—from the case. She made the request at the end of an objection to defendants’ motion for a remote appearance. Judge Cousins gave her permission to seek disqualification under 28 U.S.C. §§ 144 and 455 and explained the procedures: a sworn affidavit describing facts supporting a claim of personal bias under § 144, or a motion explaining why § 455 required recusal.

Buccola did not file the affidavit or motion. Instead, she notified the court that she refused to comply with a court order and again stated that Judge Cousins needed to recuse himself. Judge Cousins stayed the proceedings and referred the disqualification request for random assignment to another judge. The matter was assigned to Judge P. Casey Pitts.

Legal standard

Judge Pitts applied the Ninth Circuit’s objective test for judicial impartiality: whether a reasonable person who knew all the facts would reasonably question the judge’s impartiality. The order also states that judicial rulings alone almost never provide a valid basis for a bias or partiality motion.

Ruling

Judge Pitts concluded that Buccola’s failure to follow the statutory procedure for a personal-bias request and her failure to file a motion under § 455 independently provided a sufficient basis to deny the request. The court nevertheless reviewed the proceedings and found no evidence of bias, prejudice, or partiality that would cause a reasonable person to question Judge Cousins’s impartiality. The court therefore found Judge Cousins’s disqualification unwarranted and denied Buccola’s request.