President Donald J. Judge Eileen M. Trump’s criminal case against Trump for allegedly hoarding classified documents Cannon was randomly assigned, a court official for the Southern District of Florida said Saturday.
Angela E., Chief Clerk of the Federal Court System there. Noble also confirmed that Judge Cannon would continue to oversee the case unless he recuses himself.
Mr. News of Judge Cannon’s appointment raised eyebrows because of his role in an earlier lawsuit filed by Trump. In ruling in his favor, Trump appointee Judge Cannon effectively derailed the investigation until a conservative appeals court ruled he lacked legal authority to intervene.
According to district court procedures, new cases, even if related to a previous case, are randomly assigned to a judge in or near the division in which the case arose. Justice Cannon Mr. Trump’s handling of the impeachment motion raised the question of how it came to be.
Asked in an email whether normal procedures were followed and whether Judge Cannon’s appointment was random, Ms Noble wrote: “Normal procedures were followed.”
Mar-a-Lago is in the West Palm Beach section, between the Fort Lauderdale section and the Fort Pierce section, where Judge Cannon sits. Website of the District Court It shows that seven are active judges Those three divisions have chambers, as do three judges of senior rank who still hear cases.
Ms. Noble wrote that certain factors increased the chances of the case coming before Judge Cannon.
For one, he said, once senior judges meet their target caseload for the year, they are removed from the case allocation system, or wheel. At least one of the senior judges has been terminated, and the other two are “likely to achieve their goal,” he said with great confidence.
Additionally, he wrote, one of the seven active judges with chambers in Fort Lauderdale is now a Miami judge for purposes of assignments. Another is currently not receiving cases.
A third active judge, Donald Middlebrooks, gets 50 percent of his criminal cases from the Miami division, he wrote, reducing his odds. (Judge Middlebrooks this year ordered Mr. Trump and his lawyers to pay nearly $1 million in sanctions for filing frivolous lawsuits against nearly three dozen of his perceived political opponents, including Hillary Clinton.)
Justice Cannon, Ms. Noble wrote, “Taking 50 percent of his cases from West Palm Beach increases his odds.”
The clerk clarified another matter: whether Judge Cannon would continue the case. As news of Judge Cannon’s appointment emerged on Friday, observers speculated that it would be a preliminary assignment before another judge is handed over.
But Ms Noble confirmed that no court procedure would revert to assigning the case to another judge. In short, Judge Cannon’s job is permanent, unless he steps aside.
