State v. Lute (In re Selvaggio), 100 N.E.3d 413

Defendant Sarah Ashley Lute moved to disqualify Judge Nick Selvaggio under R.C. 2701.03, via counsel Regina R. Richards.
Basis: Judge Selvaggio previously prosecuted Lute in an unrelated 2012 felony case while serving as county prosecuting attorney.
Judge Selvaggio admits limited participation in the 2012 matter (arraignment and a scheduling conference) and says an assistant handled the prosecution otherwise.
Judge Selvaggio asserts he did not personally or substantially participate in the current case and has not acted in a way to create bias.
Applicant argues prior adversarial relationship and aggressive prosecution create an appearance of impropriety; judge contends the allegations are groundless.
Court treated the disqualification request as an extraordinary remedy and evaluated whether a reasonable objective observer would question impartiality.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether prior service as a prosecutor requires disqualification from a later, unrelated case	Richards: prior prosecution of Lute creates disqualifying conflict	Selvaggio: prior prosecution was of a different matter; he didn’t personally and substantially participate in the present case	No — prior prosecution of a different matter alone does not require disqualification
Whether an appearance of impropriety exists from prior adversarial relationship	Richards: judge’s "aggressive" prosecution and intimate knowledge of Lute create appearance problems in small county	Selvaggio: had minimal involvement (two appearances) and an assistant handled prosecution; allegations are groundless	No — limited prior involvement does not create a sufficient appearance of bias
Standard for overcoming judicial presumptions	Richards: implicit claim that the judge’s past role overcomes presumption of impartiality	Selvaggio: presumption of impartiality applies; extraordinary remedy required to disqualify	Court: presumption stands; appearance of bias must be compelling and was not shown
Remedy requested (disqualification)	Richards: seeks removal of Judge Selvaggio from the pending case	Selvaggio: opposes removal	Denied — affidavit of disqualification denied; case may proceed before Judge Selvaggio

In re Disqualification of Batchelor, 136 Ohio St.3d 1211 (2013) (disqualification not automatic for unrelated prior prosecution)
In re Disqualification of Hedric, 127 Ohio St.3d 1227 (2009) (same principle regarding unrelated matters)
In re Disqualification of George, 100 Ohio St.3d 1241 (2003) (presumption that judges follow law and are unbiased; disqualification is extraordinary)