Rule 12.6 Disqualification of Judges Assigned to Panels of the Emergency Appellate Division

A. No judge of the Emergency Appellate Division shall participate in the consideration or decision of any case if he/she has presided at the trial of that case or if he/she participated in the trial or decision of any issue in the court below. The disqualifications prescribed for trial and appellate judges (Sections 1401, 1402 of Title 20) shall apply to judges of the Emergency Appellate Division.

B. A judge of the Emergency Appellate Division may disqualify himself/herself on his/her own motion or at the request of a litigant.

C. A motion to disqualify a judge of the Emergency Appellate Division shall be filed with the Clerk of the Court of Criminal Appeals within ten (10) days after the date notice of assignment is mailed to counsel.

D. The motion shall be decided by the panel to which the case is assigned. If the panel should refuse to disqualify its judge, the aggrieved party may seek review in the Court of Criminal Appeals by filing a petition within ten (10) days from the date of the panel's order. If an appeal of the denial of disqualification is filed in the Court of Criminal Appeals, the ninety (90) day period for the panel's resolution of the case is tolled pending an order being entered by the Court.

E. When a judge is disqualified, the records of the panel shall so show. The Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals, when notified of a disqualification, shall recall the case and may assign a Temporary Judge of the Emergency Appellate Division to sit in the cause or reassign the case within the Court. If the case is assigned to a new panel, the ninety (90) day period for resolution of the case will begin anew from the date of Notice of Assignment.