NOTICE OF MOTION TO RECUSE JUDGE

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Samples legal papers
May 1, 2023

FAMILY COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

FOR THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK

TIMOTHY KITTLE JR.; and ALYSSA      §

KITTLE      §

Petitioners      §

§

v.      § Docket: NN-3933-20, NN-3934-20

§

TIMOTHY KITTLE SR.      §

Respondent.      §

NOTICE OF MOTION TO RECUSE JUDGE

You are notified that on the ____ day of April, 2022, at _______ (am/pm), or as soon thereafter as Timothy Kittle Sr. can be heard, in Courtroom ___ of the Family Court of the State of New York, for the County of Suffolk, he will bring on for hearing his Motion to Recuse Judge for the reasons stated in the attached Motion.

Dated this ____ day of April, 2022.

Respectfully Submitted,

___________________________________

Timothy Kittle Sr.

Respondent in pro per

FAMILY COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

FOR THE COUNTY OF SUFFOLK

TIMOTHY KITTLE JR.; and ALYSSA      §

KITTLE      §

Petitioners      §

§

v.      § Docket: NN-3933-20, NN-3934-20

§

TIMOTHY KITTLE SR.      §

Respondent.      §

MOTION TO RECUSE JUDGE

NOW COMES Timothy Kittle Sr., Respondent, and files this Motion to Recuse Judge Frank A. Tantone (hereinafter referred to as the “Learned Judge”), and for cause would show this Honorable Court as follows:

  1. On July 22nd 2021, the Learned Judge lied on the dedication by stating that he held a 1029 hearing on March 18th 2020. Neither Petitioner nor Respondent received notice of such hearing. Respondent inquired and confirmed that there was no such hearing. When Respondent inquired with the court, he was also informed that there was no such hearing.
  2. On November 1st 2021, the Learned Judge put on the record that Respondent was not present in court on that day. However, Respondent was present but he was not let inside the courtroom. The following day, the Learned Judge changed the record to state that Respondent was present in court the previous day, and issued a restraining order against Respondent. The conflicting statements put on record by the Learned Judge are false. Respondent has never been served with a restraining order.
  3. The Learned Judge allowed Petitioner to adjourn the trial for more than eight months when there was no substantial reason to do so. Upon fact-finding, the Learned Judge made it seem like it wasn’t Petitioner’s fault but that of Respondent. Interestingly, the Learned Judge also allowed Petitioner to make filings outside the stipulated time.
  4. The Learned Judge failed to grant Respondent an opportunity to obtain discovery do he could prepare his defense. Respondent pointed out multiple times to the Learned Judge that Petitioner had not provided him with discovery but the Learned Judge ignored him every time and allowed the trial to proceed without Respondent having discovery to prepare his defense.
  5. The Learned Judge’s favoritism of Petitioner has put Respondent at a disadvantage as his ability to prepare his case has been hampered. Respondent is a father who has the right to see his children absent a finding that it is in the best interests of the minor children to limit that right. There has not been a showing that it is in the best interests of the minor children to limit that right but the Learned Judge still limited Respondent’s parental rights.
  6. Canon 2A of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges states the following: “A judge should respect and comply with the law and should act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary.” The Learned Judge failed to comply with the law when he denied Respondent a chance to obtain discovery. Parties in a case have the right to obtain discovery from one another in accordance with Rule 3120 of the Civil Practice Law & Rules.
  7. The commentary of Canon 2A of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges reads: “An appearance of impartiality occurs when reasonable minds, with knowledge of all the relevant circumstances disclosed by a reasonable inquiry, would conclude that the judge’s honesty, integrity, impartiality, temperament or fitness to serve as a judge is impaired.”
  8. The foregoing actions and/or omissions made by the Learned Judge amount to impartiality. Anyone with knowledge of how the Learned Judge limited Respondent’s parental rights without proof, how the Learned Judge denied  Respondent the opportunity to conduct discovery, how the Learned Judge allowed Petitioner to adjourn the case for more than 8 months and how the Learned Judge allowed Petitioner to make filings past the stipulated time would come to the conclusion that the Learned Judge is acting in favor of Petitioner.
  9. As a result of the actions and/or omissions of the Learned Judge, Respondent and the minor children have not seen each other in more than a year. They have experienced and continue to experience mental anguish as they miss one another.
  10. The Learned Judge’s impartiality makes him unfit to continue to hear and determine this case. “A Trial Judge is the sole arbiter of recusal. This discretionary decision is within the personal conscience of the court when the alleged appearance of impropriety arises from inappropriate awareness of “nonjuridical data”” (People v Horton, 18 N.Y.2d 355, 362; see also, People v Smith, 63 N.Y.2d 41, 68; People v Patrick, 183 N.Y. 52, 54). In light of the impartiality and impropriety demonstrated by the Learned Judge during these proceedings, it would be just and fait to all parties if he recused himself.

REASONS WHEREFORE, PREMISES CONSIDERED, Respondent respectfully requests Judge Frank A. Tantone to recuse himself from hearing this case further.

Dated this ____ day of April, 2022.

Respectfully Submitted,

___________________________________

Timothy Kittle Sr.

Respondent in pro per


VERIFICATION

I, Timothy Kittle Sr., being duly sworn depose and say that I have read the foregoing Motion to Recuse Judge and know the contents thereof. That the same is true of my own knowledge except as to those matters and things stated upon information and belief, and as to those things, I believe them to be true.

_________________________________

(Sign in the presence of a Notary Public)

Sworn to and subscribed before me this ___ day of April, 2022.

______________________________

Notary Public

________________________________________

(Printed name of Notary Public)

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