Marchese v. Abersold

The Supreme Court vacated the issuance of a domestic violence order (DVO) and remanded this case for additional proceedings, holding that the trial court’s receipt of extrajudicial evidence was structural error and that the trial court’s use of extrajudicial evidence from an undisclosed source was improper.Plaintiff petitioned the family court for a DVO against Defendant. The trial judge granted the DVO. Defendant appealed, challenging the trial court’s extrajudicial research concerning his criminal record. The court of appeals affirmed, holding that the trial court committed error in conducting the extrajudicial investigation but that the error was harmless. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the trial judge’s undertaking to obtain and use as evidence extrajudicial information relating to a party in the case caused her disqualification from proceeding further as the presiding judge, and her failure to recuse was structural error undermining the integrity of the resulting DVO. View "Marchese v. Abersold" on Justia Law