GUAM Supreme Court Chief Justice Carbullido, commenting on his decision to recuse himself from hearing a petition filed by a taxpayer group, cited his reason as a relationship to a party to the underlying lawsuit.
He said: “My recusal is mandatory because it is readily apparent that my father’s financial interest in (the COLA case) could be substantially affected by the outcome of this proceeding.”
He further noted that “voluntary recusal by a justice is proper where he is aware of mandatory grounds for recusal and a party need not challenge the disqualification because justices have a self-enforcing obligation to evaluate whether mandatory grounds exist requiring recusal.”
Meanwhile, Judge Barcinas, who issued a ruling under which his father would receive $134,595 and his mother, $59,402, had this to say: “I’m not conceding that a conflict exists.” Go figure.

DAVE DAVIS
Yigo, Guam