The Utah Court of Appeals held that a judge who revoked a defendant’s probation should have recused himself because he previously served as defense counsel for the same defendant, but the court declined to reverse the judgment, finding the defendant failed to show he was harmed by the decision.
Defendant Manuel Andres Samudio was convicted in two criminal cases where he appeared before Judge Don Torgerson, who was formerly his defense attorney. Torgerson ultimately revoked Samudio’s probation and imposed his original sentence after Samudio allegedly violated the requirements imposed after drug-related convictions.
