A provocative concept, to be sure! Or alternatively, can a defense attorney, under any view of his ethical responsibilities, basically “take on” the judge to justify—indeed, set up—a recusal motion?
Now, some defense attorneys (usually on the fringe and more so years ago) have been willing to “bait” judges. They engage the (prosecution-friendly?) judge and cause him to react, creating a palpable bias against counsel and his client—a deliberate ploy to create sympathy, or justify recusal. Or these attorneys try their case, in part, by confronting the judge, particularly when the jury is seated, in a manner designed to induce error. No one talks about such a “strategy” in polite company, but it is unquestionably practiced by some, sometimes successfully. And not only by “blue collar lawyers” (if there is such a phrase).
