In re Schweikert
In re Schweikert
Opinion of the Court
*1220{¶ 1} Frederick Johnson has filed two additional affidavits pursuant to R.C. 2701.03 seeking to disqualify Judge Mark R. Schweikert, a retired judge sitting by assignment, from the cases listed in Exhibit A to the affidavits. Mr. Johnson represents *13the plaintiffs in medical-malpractice actions against Dr. Abubakar Atiq Durrani and various hospitals. Mr. Johnson and his former colleague, Matthew J. Hammer, previously filed 15 affidavits to disqualify Judge Schweikert from these same proceedings; four individual plaintiffs also filed affidavits to disqualify the judge. Those affidavits were denied in entries dated February 5, 2018 (denying Mr. Hammer's first 7 affidavits),
{¶ 2} In the 16th and 17th affidavits filed by the plaintiffs' counsel, Mr. Johnson claims that he recently obtained public records from the Ohio Judicial Conference and that those records show that Judge Schweikert-while he served *1221as executive director of the agency-was heavily involved in legislative activities relating to medical-malpractice statutes. Mr. Johnson therefore continues to assert that Jud.Cond.R. 2.11(A)(7)(b) requires the judge's disqualification. Mr. Johnson also claims that the documents contradict the judge's statements in his prior responses to affidavits of disqualification in which the judge described his role at the Ohio Judicial Conference.
{¶ 3} The records submitted by Mr. Johnson, however, do not prove that Judge Schweikert is biased against the plaintiffs or that any appearance of bias exists in the underlying cases. As previously explained, Jud.Cond.R. 2.11(A)(7)(b) does not require Judge Schweikert's removal from the underlying cases merely because the judge, prior to taking the bench, engaged in legislative activities relating to statutes that may be relevant in the underlying matters. See also State ex rel. Chagrin Falls v. Geauga Cty. Bd. of Commrs. ,
{¶ 4} In counsel's 17th affidavit, Mr. Johnson also asserts that Judge Schweikert demonstrated bias at a March 2018 case-management conference. Specifically, Mr. Johnson criticizes the manner in which the judge scheduled trials, claims that the judge is forcing mediation on some plaintiffs, and criticizes the judge for allowing defendants to "supplement experts" after deposing plaintiffs' experts. But as previously explained to Mr. Johnson, "[a] party's disagreement or dissatisfaction with a court's legal rulings, even if those rulings may be erroneous, is not grounds for disqualification." In re Disqualification of Corrigall Jones ,
*14{¶ 5} For these reasons, the 16th and 17th affidavits filed by the plaintiffs' counsel are denied.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- IN RE Disqualification of SCHWEIKERT. In re Cases Relating to Abubakar Atiq Durrani.
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published