Macomb Prosecutor: Judge who contributed to my opponent's campaign should be disqualified

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido is asking that a judge disqualify himself from presiding over a lawsuit Lucido filed against the county's top attorney and ethics board. The prosecutor argues the judge contributed to the campaign of Lucido's election opponent, which creates the appearance of impropriety.

Lucido, a Republican, stated in an Aug. 12 motion that Macomb County Circuit Judge James Maceroni contributed to the campaign of Christina Hines, the Democratic candidate for county prosecutor in the November election.

Additional material with the motion included a screenshot from a search on the county's campaign finance reporting site of a contribution listed for $100 by Maceroni on Nov. 15 to Hines' committee. Underneath the date and amount is the word "fundraiser."

The November date is seven months before the June 28 filing of Lucido's lawsuit. A hearing on Lucido's motion to disqualify and other matters is scheduled for Monday before Maceroni.

Mark Brewer, former Michigan Democratic Party chairman, lodged his first of two complaints against Lucido with the ethics board in February. Lucido stated in his motion to disqualify that Brewer is the leader and/or adviser for Hines' political campaign.

The ethics board dismissed one of Brewer's complaints and voted to forward the other to a formal hearing to be held July 17. The forwarded complaint alleged Lucido used county property, buildings and offices to create a photo of himself for political campaign purposes.

Lucido's attorney, Todd Perkins, previously stated the photo was taken before the start of business hours by Lucido's daughter with her personal cellphone the morning he took office in January 2021. It depicts him sitting at his office desk. It was later put on his campaign website, with no tax dollars used for its capture or transmission, Perkins stated.

Lucido filed the lawsuit against the county's Corporation Counsel John Schapka and the ethics board in June, weeks ahead of the July hearing, which was canceled because the lawsuit was filed. During an Aug. 1 hearing, Schapka said he advised the ethics board not to hold the public hearing until the claims against the board are resolved, to protect the integrity of the board's ultimate decision.

During the Aug. 1 hearing, Maceroni heard arguments from both sides in regard to a separate motion from Lucido for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stay the ethics board proceedings against him. Maceroni had not issued an opinion on that motion as of Friday.

In the recent motion to disqualify, Perkins wrote that the campaign donation "creates the appearance of impropriety by the trial judge in this case by presiding and ruling on issues that concern Plaintiff and Brewer's complaint promoting Christina Hines."

"In this instance, we believe the totality of the circumstances merit and mandate that Judge Maceroni recuse himself from this case," Perkins wrote in an email Friday, adding: "With the subject matter of this case arising from the ethics complaint that was filed by Mark Brewer , we believe that the only proper decision is for the Judge to recuse himself."

Perkins' motion refers to the Michigan Code of Judicial Conduct and various canons that a judge "'must avoid all ... appearance of impropriety' to preserve the integrity and independence of the judiciary" and "should refrain from financial dealings that tend to reflect adversity on the judge's impartiality."

The motion stated that a specific canon "expressly allows a judge to contribute to a political party, but it does not sanction a contribution to a particular candidate, especially in our case when that candidate's concern is the subject matter of this case in which the judge presides over."

"Based on objection and reasonable perceptions, Judge Maceroni's contribution/support of Christina Hines in the upcoming election for prosecuting attorney for Macomb County appears to question his impartiality to rule on issues in the instant litigation," according to the motion, which asks Maceroni to refer the motion to the court's chief judge should Maceroni deny it.

Lucido and Perkins want the lawsuit to be referred to another judge by blind draw. Schapka filed a motion on behalf of the himself and the ethics board requesting the court deny Lucido's motion to recuse the judge.

"In all respects, Plaintiff fails to meet the heavy burden of overcoming the presumption that the trial judge is actually biased or prejudiced in this matter," Schapka wrote.

"Saying it is so does not make it so, and the-trial-judge-is-biased-because-I-say-he-is-biased is woefully insufficient."

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Macomb Prosecutor: Judge who contributed to my opponent's campaign should be disqualified