A St. Johns County judge has been disqualified from two drug trafficking cases following allegations of bias and prejudice.
On Wednesday, the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee granted requests by defendants in two separate cases to disqualify Circuit Judge Howard Maltz. The defendants were accused of selling opioids, including one man accused of drug-induced murder.
Maltz publicly announced in 2017 that he would no longer accept plea deals in cases involving the sale or trafficking of opioids.
When defendants challenged his impartiality and asked that he recuse himself, Maltz refused.
The appeals court’s decision disqualifies Maltz from the two cases. It’s not yet clear how their decision will affect his ability to sit in judgment in cases going forward.
The court did not weigh in on the merits of the bias allegations. They simply agreed with the defendants' lawyers that a motion to disqualify a judge must merely be "legally sufficient."
A judge who is presented with a motion for his disqualification "shall not pass on the truth of the facts alleged nor adjudicate the question of disqualification."
In his denial of the request to disqualify him, Maltz disagreed that he had exhibited bias.