A Stanislaus County judge will decide whether a Yolo Superior Court judge should be disqualified from presiding over the trial of a Davis child assault suspect.
The Judicial Council of California has assigned the matter to Judge Scott T. Steffen, who has 30 days to issue a ruling on the recusal motion filed last month by the Yolo County Public Defender’s Office.
Deputy Public Defender Martha Sequeira says Judge Paul Richardson should not preside over the trial of her client Darnell Dorsey, questioning his ability to be fair and impartial in light of a dispute involving another of Sequeria’s court cases.
In that matter, Sequeria twice subpoenaed Richardson to testify regarding allegations that a defendant in a gang-related shooting case had made a threatening gesture toward the victim as he testified during a preliminary hearing.
Richardson, who said he did not witness the alleged threat and as a judicial officer is immune from testifying in such situations, fought both subpoenas and prevailed. Later, he denied a defense request to delay the Dorsey trial, though he reversed that decision at a subsequent hearing.
Sequeira now alleges in court documents that he has “demonstrated bias and animosity” toward them and their office and should be removed from hearing the Dorsey case.
Richardson has declined to disqualify himself, saying in a response to the defense motion that Sequeira “cites no actions, demeanor, or rulings in this matter to support disqualification.” His initially adverse ruling on the trial continuance “does not provide a ground for disqualification.”
Dorsey, accused of fatally beating his girlfriend’s toddler son Cameron Morrison in January 2014, remains in Yolo County Jail custody with no trial date set until Steffen issues his ruling.