Errol Ivanhoe Crosbie appeals from his convictions of armed robbery, hijacking of a motor vehicle, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime. He contends the trial court erred by denying his motion to recuse and by failing to suppress his statements to police. We find no merit in these contentions and affirm. 1. Crosbie argues he is entitled to a new trial because the trial judge should have recused himself. Crosbie moved to recuse based on a general allegation that the judge “has a personal bias or prejudice concerning the Defendant” and that the judge “has presided over two previous hearings involving the Defendant unrelated to the present case” in which the judge’s “bias against him was demonstrated when he was precluded from presenting crucial evidence, that the Court improperly exercised jurisdiction over him, and that improper statements were directed to him.” Attached to the motion was a copy of a “family violence ex parte order” and a “six month stalking protective order” which noted that Crosbie had failed to appear after being personally served. The trial court denied the motion to recuse in a detailed three-page order.
Uniform Superior Court Rule 25.3 provides: When a judge is presented with a motion to recuse, or disqualify, accompanied by an affidavit, the judge shall temporarily cease to act upon the merits of the matter and shall immediately determine the timeliness of the motion and the legal sufficiency of the affidavit, and make a determination, assuming any of the facts alleged in the affidavit to be true, whether recusal would be warranted. If it is found that the motion is timely, the affidavit sufficient and that recusal would be authorized if some or all of the facts set forth in the affidavit are true, another judge shall be assigned to hear the motion to recuse. If the movant fails to demonstrate the existence of all three conditions in Rule 25.3, “the trial judge shall deny the motion on its face as insufficient, and there is no need for the trial judge to assign the motion to another judge to hear. It is as much the duty of a judge not to grant the motion to recuse when the motion is legally insufficient as it is to recuse when the motion is meritorious.” Citation, punctuation and footnotes omitted. Gould v. State , 273 Ga. App. 155, 159 4 614 SE2d 252 2005.
