Seminole-Brevard chief judge’s reelection campaign conflicts with domestic case, attorney says – Orlando Sentinel & More Latest News Here – Up Jobs

A Sanford criminal defense attorney says Seminole-Brevard Chief Judge Jessica Recksiedler should disqualify herself from his client’s cases after the judge’s reelection campaign conflicted with the proceedings.

In an interview with her attorney present this week, Lake Mary psychologist Rosimeri Clements said the judge’s rulings in her cases have felt “punitive.”

“I feel like I can’t get a fair hearing,” she said.

Clements’ attorney, Ryan Yadav, said he has dealt in the past with minor conflicts caused by judicial elections but not to this extent.

“I’ve just never seen anything like this,” said Yadav, who is also president of the Seminole County Bar Association.

Recksiedler is running to keep her spot on the bench against Oviedo attorney John Mannion, a former prosecutor, in the Aug. 23 election. Yadav said he is a co-chair of Mannion’s campaign.

In court documents, Yadav has asked Recksiedler to remove herself from the case three times, including once after her judicial assistant confronted him about his support for Recksiedler’s opponent at a candidate forum. Yadav said Recksiedler’s mother also confronted Clements at a straw poll where she was supporting Mannion.

Recksiedler’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment. Mannion declined to comment.

Michelle Kennedy, a spokesperson for the 18th Judicial Circuit covering Seminole and Brevard counties, said judges are prohibited from commenting while a court proceeding is pending.

“Unfortunately, this rule often leaves judges vulnerable to one-sided and misleading narratives,” Kennedy said in a statement.

Kennedy also said it’s not “uncommon” for court employees to work on judicial campaigns.

“It is not prohibited as long as it is voluntary, outside of the courthouse on their personal time,” she said.

Since 2015, Rosimeri Clements has been involved in a heavily contested divorce and child custody battle with her ex-husband, Blair Clements, court records show. In July 2021, Blair Clements accused his ex-wife of verbally threatening and pushing him during a custody exchange with their two daughters.

Rosimeri Clements was charged with misdemeanor assault and battery, to which she has pleaded not guilty, according to court records. Recksiedler granted Blair Clements’ request for a protective injunction, which requires his ex-wife to stay at least 500 feet away from his residence and for their children to be exchanged via a neutral third party.

Rosimeri Clements, though, said she has not seen her daughters in months after her ex-husband accused her of alienating him from the children and asked Recksiedler for extended time-sharing. Recksiedler ordered Rosimeri Clements not to have contact with her daughters and required her to undergo a psychological evaluation.

“Former Wife … has thwarted the children’s ability to repair the relationship with their father,” Recksiedler wrote in a March 21 order.

The judge found Clements in contempt for violating the protective injunction twice, according to an April 27 order.

Yadav became involved as Clements’ attorney in June after Recksiedler ordered her jailed for 45 days when she failed to complete the psychological evaluation with a Fort Lauderdale doctor. Before she was jailed May 23, Clements’ attorneys argued she had limited funds and was unable to arrange payments with the doctor, so she found another psychologist to fulfill the order’s requirements, records show.

“What was so concerning about that to me is that she wasn’t given a right to have a hearing to explain that,” Yadav said. “She had to be incarcerated and go to jail, and then we had to then set a hearing later and explain that to the court that it wasn’t a possibility — and then she was released.”

Yadav filed his first motion asking Recksiedler to remove herself from the case on the basis of his work with her opponent. The attorney said he works on many political campaigns and has filed similar motions in front of other judges.

“People do not want any appearances that they’re not going to be impartial, and so it’s usually it’s not that big of an issue,” he said. “She denied that, which was fine, so we just kept plugging away.”

Blair Clements’ attorney, Tatiana Leo, said Recksiedler “properly denied” Yadav’s motion based on Florida’s judicial administration rules, which prohibit counsel from filing to disqualify judges based on a new attorney’s involvement.

“I believe Ms. Clements hired her current attorney specifically and for the purpose of creating a conflict,” Leo said. “Mr. Yadav knew of his involvement in Mr. Manion’s campaign prior to agreeing to represent Ms. Clements and knew this representation may create a conflict at the time he took on this case, yet did so anyway.”

Yadav denied Leo’s allegation. More than three weeks after his first motion, Yadav said Clements and her fiancé were confronted by Recksiedler’s mother at the Brevard Republican Party Straw Poll and BBQ.

“I don’t know how she knew who I was,” Clements said. “… It was just very belligerent.”

Recksiedler’s mother asked Clements why she was “talking badly” about her daughter and demanded to know her fiancé’s name, according to court documents.

Recksiedler denied Yadav’s second motion to disqualify herself. The attorney said he filed a third motion Aug. 3 after Recksiedler’s judicial assistant confronted him at the North Brevard Democratic Club Judicial Candidate Forum, which he attended with Mannion.

“[The judicial assistant] asked me in what I perceived an aggressive and accusatory manner why I was doing this to her (Judge Recksiedler),” Yadav wrote in a supporting affidavit. “… I was taken aback and confused by her questioning.”

Recksiedler also denied Yadav’s third attempt to disqualify her. Yadav said he plans to appeal the decision.

“I think Dr. Clements just wants a fair shake at this — that’s all, a fair and impartial shake,” he said.

Under Florida’s code of judicial conduct, judges must not only be impartial but must also maintain the appearance of impartiality, said Robert Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University. Judges aren’t supposed to hear cases where they have a personal interest or family member involved, but beyond that, there isn’t a clear standard for when judges should recuse, he said.

“Judges have a lot of discretion as to whether or not they’re going to recuse,” he said. “Most recusal motions fail.”

Judges also have to be conscious of attorneys “judge shopping” for someone who is favorable to hear the case, Jarvis said.

“The only way judges can stop that is by not recusing themselves when there is no reason to recuse themselves,” he said. “As a judge, you just can’t allow yourself to be bullied into going off a case because, again, it’s bad for the system.”

Clements said she is “constantly living in fear” from her 15-day stay in jail. Her daughters have “trauma” from the conflicts in the case, she added.

“It’s intimidation,” she said of Recksiedler’s handling of her cases. “It’s bullying.”

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