United States Second Circuit

Motion to recuse the entire United States Department of Justice from representing the government because the criminal judgment under review had been rendered by then-district judge Michael Mukasey, the current Attorney General, is denied as the circuit court finds the potential conflict of interest in the underlying case too attenuated to warrant disqualifying the entire DOJ when: 1) there was no allegation that Mukasey received, as a trial judge, any privileged communication that should be kept out of the prosecution's hands; and 2) nothing suggested that Mukasey harbored some specific personal interest in this case, which would damage defendant's right to a neutral prosecutor.

Appellate Information

• Decided 06/12/2008
• Published 06/12/2008

Judges

• CARDAMONE, Circuit Judge:, Before:  CARDAMONE, SOTOMAYOR, and RAGGI, Circuit Judges.

Court

• United States Second Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellees:
  
• B. Alan Seidler, New York, New York, for Defendant-Appellant., Sarah Y. Lai, Assistant United States Attorney, (Michael J. Garcia, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, New York, New York), for Appellee.