LOUISVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — The judge assigned to a child support case involving former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin will not recuse herself after Bevin filed to have her removed in March.
Bevin's attorneys originally argued in a March 24 filing that Judge Angela Johnson should be removed from the case surrounding Bevin's and his ex-wife's adopted son, Jonan. The motion argued that Bevin did not believe Johnson could provide him a fair trial and that she appeared to be motivated by a bias against him.
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According to an order filed on April 16, Johnson declined Bevin's to disqualify herself from the case. When no motion is filed by the Kentucky Supreme Court to remove a judge, rules of the court require them to "disqualify themselves where that judge’s impartiality “might reasonably be questioned.”'
However, Johnson argues in the order that none of the "non-exhaustive list of grounds on which a judge is required to self-remove" apply to her court.
These include having an economic interest in the case's subject matter, prior involvement, personal bias or personal knowledge of the dispute.
"By disqualifying herself when no grounds to do so apply, this Court would be improperly avoiding her duty to render a decision in a matter assigned to her. This Court has a duty to hear both sides and render a decision consistent with the law and the facts before it, as has been affirmed by the Court of Appeals in its decision denying (Bevin's) Petition for Writ of Mandamus."
