Picciotto v. Chief Justice of the Superior Court
Picciotto v. Chief Justice of the Superior Court
Opinion of the Court
The petitioners appeal from a judgment of a single justice of this court denying their petition for relief in the nature of certiorari, G. L. c. 249, § 4. We affirm.
The petitioners are parties to certain consolidated civil actions pending in the Superior Court. A different party in one of those cases requested that the Chief Justice of the Superior Court specially assign his case, separately, to a judge who had previously presided over related litigation. The petitioners filed an opposition, arguing that the judge in the related litigation had treated them unfairly. The Chief Justice declined specially to assign the judge requested, but specially assigned a different judge to preside over all aspects of the consolidated cases — a judge that none of the parties had previously objected to or requested.
The petitioners then filed their petition in the county court, requesting that
“A civil action in the nature of certiorari to correct errors in proceedings which are not . . . otherwise reviewable by motion or by appeal, may be brought in the supreme judicial or superior court . . . .” G. L. c. 249, § 4. The petitioners have failed to show why the special assignment was not “otherwise reviewable by motion or by appeal.” First, they do not adequately explain why they could not have raised their concerns about the assigned judge’s supposed bias by moving that the Chief Justice reconsider the assignment; by moving to recuse the specially assigned judge
Accordingly, we find no clear error of law or abuse of discretion in the single justice’s denial of the petition. See Picciotto v. Superior Court Dep’t of the Trial Court, 436 Mass. 1001, cert. denied sub nom. Picciotto v. Sikora, 537 U.S. 820 (2002).
Judgment affirmed.
We need not consider assorted other issues and claims for relief that the petitioners raise for the first time in their brief on appeal. See Milton v. Boston, 427 Mass. 1016, 1017 (1998).
As for the single issue raised before the single justice — the special assignment of a judge to preside over litigation that is currently pending — the petitioners sought relief from a challenged interlocutory ruling in the trial court, but did not comply with the requirements of S J.C. Rule 2:21, as amended, 434 Mass. 1301 (2001). “This by itself is a reason not to disturb the single justice’s judgment.” Picciotto v. Superior Court Dep't of the Trial Court, 437 Mass. 1019, in."7 n.5 (2002), quoting Gorod v. Tabachnick, 428 Mass. 1001, 1001 n.2, cert. denied i ,5 U.S. 1003 (1998).
Only after the single justice denied the ition did the petitioners move in the Superior Court to recuse the specially assig judge. The judge denied the motion, however, concluding that she could preside fa ' and reasonably.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Stefano Picciotto & others v. Chief Justice of The Superior Court
- Cited By
- 7 cases
- Status
- Published