Ryan Colbert, Petitioner, v. Tiffany Colbert, Respondent. (2026)

Having reviewed the petition for writ of prohibition, the response, the reply, and the appendices thereto, we determine that the motion for disqualification directed to the initial trial court judge is legally sufficient. See Fla. R. Gen. Prac. & Jud. Admin. 2.330(h) (“If the motion [to disqualify] is legally sufficient, the [initial trial court] judge shall immediately enter an order granting disqualification and proceed no further in the action.”); Davis v. State, 347 So. 3d 315, 322 (Fla. 2022) (“When a court rules on the legal sufficiency of a motion for disqualification, it must consider whether the facts alleged would place a reasonably prudent person in fear of not receiving a fair and impartial trial. Rather than questioning a judge's perception of his or her ability to act fairly and impartially, a motion for disqualification focuses on those matters from which a litigant may reasonably question a judge's impartiality. Even if a judge, therefore, is confident that he or she can preside with no bias, the judge must grant a motion to disqualify if a reasonably prudent person could question his or her impartiality.” (citations and internal quotation marks omitted)). We therefore grant the petition for writ of prohibition and remand with instructions to the Chief Judge of the Ninth Judicial Circuit to reassign the case to a successor trial court judge.

PETITION GRANTED; REMANDED with instructions.

PRATT, J.

WOZNIAK and MIZE, JJ., concur.