Corona v. Day Kimball Healthcare, Inc., HHDCV156075511S

Meagan CORONA v. DAY KIMBALL HEALTHCARE, INC. et al.

No. HHDCV156075511S

Superior Court of Connecticut, Judicial District of Hartford, Hartford

July 24, 2018

UNPUBLISHED OPINION

OPINION

Sheridan, J.

The defendant Erica J. Kesselman, M.D., has moved to disqualify the Honorable Thomas Moukawsher from continuing as the assigned judge for these proceedings. Judge Moukawsher has referred the motion to the undersigned for consideration and decision. Oral argument was held on July 23, 2018.

The facts and circumstances relevant to the current motion have been fully set forth in the parties’ memoranda and attachments, and in the interests of expediting a decision on the pending motion, will not be repeated here.

The controlling standard is whether a reasonable person knowing all the circumstances surrounding the judicial proceeding would question the judge’s impartiality. This determination is made by an objective rather than a subjective standard. The question is not whether the judge is impartial in fact. Even in the absence of actual bias, a judge must disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned. Webster Bank, N.A. v Frasca, 183 Conn.App. 249, 263-64 (2018).

The evidence in support of the claimed bias consists of transcripts of proceedings before Judge Moukawsher. The defendant urges the court to find that a reasonable person would infer bias and a lack of impartiality based on Judge Moukawsher’s verbal exchanges with defendant’s counsel Attorney Madonna Sacco, in two separate court appearances. In summary, the defendant’s proposed indicia of bias are: 1) the belittling "tone" used by Judge Moukawsher in speaking to Attorney Sacco; 2) Judge Moukawsher’s direction to Attorney Sacco to "sit and be silent" on several occasions during the proceeding; 3) Judge Moukawsher’s refusal on several occasions to grant Attorney Sacco’s requests to "make a record"; 4) Judge Moukawsher’s refusal on several occasions to grant Attorney Sacco’s requests to "be heard"; 5) Judge Moukawsher’s refusal to allow Attorney Sacco to sit by her client’s side while she testified; and 6) Judge Moukawsher’s disparately harsh treatment of Attorney Sacco, when compared to the other lawyers participating in those proceedings.

"[A]dverse rulings, alone, provide an insufficient basis for finding bias even when those rulings may be erroneous." Schimenti v. Schimenti, 181 Conn.App. 385,...