.
Murphy – A local attorney has filed a complaint for declaratory judgment against a newly elected judge requesting for the latter to recuse himself from all cases where the counsellor represents one of the parties.
Leo Phillips filed the complaint against Kaleb Wingate on Dec. 30. Wingate took the oath of office as district court judge on Jan. 1. The complaint accuses Wingate of violating rules of the N.C. Code of Judicial Conduct and asks the court to order him to recuse himself from all future cases involving Phillips.
Court documents say Wingate recently sent a letter to Phillips’ attorney indicating his intention to recuse himself from Phillips’ cases for six months. However, Wingate has not yet made those intentions public. As a result, Phillips filed the official complaint.
The dispute between Phillips and Wingate revolves around events that took place leading up to and in the immediate aftermath of the Nov. 3 general election. The Cherokee County Republican Party passed a resolution last month accusing Phillips of “Party disloyalty,” as defined by the N.C. Republican Party Plan of Organization.
The resolution accuses Phillips, a former chair of the Cherokee County Republican Party, of placing a campaign sign supporting Democratic district judge candidate Justin Greene in his yard prior to the general election. It also accuses him of sharing Facebook posts touting endorsements Greene received in the race.
Additionally, the resolution alleges that Phillips told a GOP volunteer that Wingate “was not qualified and did not have the experience” that Greene has, prior to Wingate’s definitive victory.
Phillips’ attorney, Rich Cassady, said the sign supporting Greene had been placed in the yard by Jim Faasse, co-owner of the property. However, local GOP officials determined that defense was not relevant because Faasse is not registered to vote in North Carolina and has no vested interest in supporting any candidate running for office locally.
Cassady further argues that Phillips shared the Facebook announcements as a way to promote his radio show and various guests on the program, which included Greene and several Republican candidates for office. However, the GOP board found that defense to be irrelevant because the Facebook posts did not mention Phillips’ radio show or Greene’s appearance on it.
Meanwhile, Phillips disputes making disparaging comments about Wingate. However, in passing the resolution, GOP leaders determined that saying a Democrat is more qualified constitutes advocacy against a Republican candidate.
In a purported email dated Nov. 9 to Aubrey Woodard, chairman of North Carolina’s 11th GOP Congressional District, Wingate expressed concern about Phillips’ alleged support for Greene.
“I would ask that the 11th District take appropriate action to protect future candidates,” Wingate wrote.
The N.C. Code of Judicial Conduct states that “a judge should be unswayed by partisan interests, public clamor or fear of criticism.” It further states that a judge should disqualify themself from a proceeding in which their impartiality may be reasonably questioned.
Local attorneys say Wingate’s email raises questions about whether he could remain impartial while deciding cases that involve Phillips. Court documents argue that a reasonable person would presume that Wingate “acted out of prejudice and bias” against Phillips, with that email being a warning “to all other GOP members that may oppose his candidacy in future elections.”
“This is not for Leo’s sake,” Cassady said over the weekend. “He’s asking this for his client’s benefit, the fear being that the representation would be so negatively viewed because of the relationship between the lawyer and the judge that the judge would not be able to overcome that and be viewed as an independent arbiter of the litigants in front of him.”
In addition to recusing from all of Phillips’ cases, documents ask the court to order Wingate to disqualify himself from all of Cassady’s cases. Wingate was served with the complaint Thursday morning while on the bench in Macon County.