Law firm's request to recuse Judge Orr denied

Dec. 9—After 10 hours of testimony from seven witnesses surrounding concerns of fair treatment in Jackson County Circuit Court Judge David Orr's courtroom, a presiding judge has denied RISE Law Group's request to recuse Orr from any of the Medford family law firm's cases.

Judge Pro Tem Paul Moser issued a six-page order Monday denying RISE Law Group's request to remove Orr from hearing 14 family law cases involving the firm's lawyers, Jamie Hazlett, Maryanne Pitcher and Garrett Ramsey.

The ruling followed Nov. 23 and 28 hearings which involved testimony from Jackson County District Attorney Beth Heckert about an unprecedented and never-before publicized recusal of Orr from all criminal cases last year and involved the rare use of courtroom security video as evidence.

Heckert testified Nov. 23 that in July last year she requested Orr's recusal from all cases involved with her office — virtually all criminal cases prosecuted in Jackson County Circuit Court — in a disqualification notice issued to Presiding Judge Lorenzo Mejia citing at least five separate cases she alleged Orr mishandled.

Some of the cases in the disqualification notice negatively impacted her office's cases while others negatively impacted defendants' cases.

"I just didn't believe the state would get a fair and impartial trial under Judge Orr," Heckert testified at the time.

But Moser determined Heckert's testimony largely didn't apply in RISE Law Group's 14 family law cases.

"Although the court finds that Ms. Heckert testified in a forthright manner, this evidence was ultimately of little if any value in the cases before the court," Moser determined.

What sparked the recusal hearing were Hazlett and Pitcher's claims the two lawyers experienced "disparate treatment" by Orr in two hearings that occurred Oct. 26 and 27.

In an Oct. 26 hearing attempting to recuse Judge Benjamin Bloom from a divorce case, Hazlett alleged Orr allowed Bloom to yell at her and Pitcher in close proximity in what she described in filings as a "verbal assault."

Courtroom audio showed Bloom was responding to allegations of impropriety by standing up and vehemently shouting statements that included, "I'm offended beyond belief," "It's insulting to my core," "If I raise my voice, I apologize," and "I've never been anything but fair to litigants."

Hazlett and Pitcher testified Orr should have admonished Bloom's conduct. Moser, however, found no signs the lawyers' safety was in jeopardy, noting security video showed Bloom "made no threatening gestures and uttered no threatening words."

"It's fair to say that Judge Bloom's outburst at the conclusion of the hearing was inappropriate," Moser wrote. "However, a review of the video and audio of the recusal hearing shows that the outburst was objectively not the sort of thing that would induce a concern for the physical safety of the attorneys or parties."

Moser determined Orr's failure to admonish Bloom, "does not indicate a bias against RISE Law Group or provide sufficient basis for RISE attorneys to feel unsafe in Judge Orr's courtroom."

On Oct. 27, during a hearing in a different case, Orr reportedly fined Pitcher $500 for contempt of court for "taking a recess" without permission midway through a hearing while representing one of her clients.

Pitcher claimed she left Orr's courtroom "due to feeling ill," and she'd "asked for a reasonable break and was denied."

Courtroom security video showed the incident began with Orr issuing an order in the hearing not in Pitcher's favor, and Pitcher possibly making a hand-waving motion.

Orr admonished Pitcher for what he saw as a "dismissive wave," and Pitcher denied she'd made any sort of gesture. A back-and-forth erupted and Pitcher left the courtroom telling Orr, "I'm taking a recess," as Orr repeatedly called her back.

Moser determined the incident was "not sufficient basis for RISE attorneys to feel unsafe in Judge Orr's courtroom."

"While it is true that holding an attorney in contempt is an extremely rare event, Ms. Pitcher's conduct was, on its face, contemptuous of court," Moser wrote.

His ruling noted Pitcher never indicated she was becoming ill in the hearing, and "she did not appear to be in physical distress."

"Whether her arm gesture was a 'dismissive wave' or something else is not clear," Moser wrote, but noted Orr's "directives to return to counsel table were clear and he did not raise his voice or display anger."

Others who testified included three parties represented by RISE in the 14 family law cases and the daughter of a party in another RISE case.

Mary Ries, one of the parties represented by RISE, testified Nov. 22 about her feelings of intimidation as she described Orr rolling his eyes during the all-day hearing and fears based on past rulings in her court case that she'd be unable to have a fair trial.

Moser found no signs of actual or apparent bias in her testimony and written declaration.

"While it is apparent that Ms. Ries is upset about the status of her case, and perhaps some delays which have occurred, there is nothing in her testimony for this court to find that there is an actual or apparent bias against her," Moser ruled.

Another party in a RISE family law case testified to concerns she had after reading a 2020 Mail Tribune report about criminal defense lawyer Justin Rosas' attempts to recuse Orr from 50 of his firm's cases.

Moser determined the woman "did not appear to have a firm grasp on the details from the Mail Tribune article," and the woman made statements "that she did not know whether Judge Orr can be fair or not."

"Given the vague nature of her declaration and testimony, there is no basis for this court to find that there is an actual or apparent bias against her," Moser wrote.

Reach web editor Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or nmorgan@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MTwebeditor.