Recusing yourself is the new trend as second judge withdraws from Kinnan case
A second judge recused himself from hearing a lawsuit that former Manatee High School football coach Joe Kinnan is bringing against the School Board of Manatee County and former district leaders.
Twelfth Circuit Court Judge Gilbert A. Smith Jr. recused himself from the case after being assigned to it Monday afternoon. Smith was assigned the case after Judge Lon Arend recused himself on Friday.
Corey Friedman, who is representing Kinnan in the lawsuit, said judges may step down if there is any appearance of a conflict of interest.
“This is a case that has ties to the community,” Friedman said. “I don’t know of any connections, specifically. It appears to me that the judges are doing the right thing by recusing themselves, if they know of a conflict, and are just merely trying to avoid the appearance of a conflict.”
Judges are not allowed to give specific reasons for recusing themselves from a case, said 12th Judicial Circuit spokesman Dennis Menendez.
District general counsel Mitch Teitelbaum confirmed that attorneys for the school board had received notice of Smith’s recusal.
“The district is in receipt of an order of recusal from Judge Smith and awaits further judicial reassignment in this matter,” Teitelbaum said.
Kinnan’s suit claims that former members of the school board worked in concert with former superintendent Rick Mills and former investigator Troy Pumphreys to smear Kinnan’s name and force him out of the district. He alleged a total of nine counts of slander, breach of contract and conspiracy involving Mills, Pumphrey, certain district administrators and school board members.
The case was dismissed in January and Kinnan filed an amended suit in March. Arend was scheduled to hear the district’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint on Thursday, but he withdrew from the case last week.
Ryan McKinnon: 941-745-7027, @JRMcKinnon
This story was originally published June 27, 2017 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Recusing yourself is the new trend as second judge withdraws from Kinnan case."