A third judge has stepped away from a lawsuit against South Bend Common Council member Sharon McBride over her residency.
The lawsuit, filed by resident Brian Collier, alleges McBride hasn’t been living in her council district for years as required by law. County Clerk Amy Rolfes initially had randomly assigned it to the circuit court, where Judge John Broden assigned it to Magistrate Andre Gammage.
Gammage recused himself, saying he has an “affiliation” with McBride. Then Broden recused himself, saying he has “known her personally and professionally for a number of years.”
Rolfes then, as required by law, randomly picked Special Judge William L. Wilson. But Wilson on Friday also removed himself.
Collier had asked Wilson to recuse himself because until 2015 he had worked at the law firm of Anderson, Agostino & Keller, and attorney Pete Agostino is representing McBride in the case.
In his order, Wilson states that he does not feel conflicted because of his past work at the firm. He wrote that when Agostino and other attorneys from the firm have appeared before him, he’s rejected their arguments and ruled against their clients many times.
But Wilson agreed to remove himself anyway because of a state court trial rule that allows both parties in a case one change of judge automatically if requested in a timely manner. Wilson wrote that if the parties can’t agree on a judge in seven days, Rolfes will randomly pick another one from the list.
Wilson also denied Collier’s request to have the Indiana Supreme Court hear the case.
