Former Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney, now convicted felon Stuart Dunnings III wants to remove a certain local judge from his case. The former Ingham County Prosecutor recently pled guilty in a prostitution case that has caused big scandal in mid Michigan. His newest installment is sure to raise a few eyebrows.
Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aquilina is scheduled to sentence Dunnings next month. Not if Dunnings has his way! In a motion filed on Thursday, August 18, Dunnings moved to have Aquilina recuse herself from his case. His reason was that he believed her involvement would result in an “appearance of impropriety,” based on the state’s Judicial Code of Conduct.
Thus far, all of Ingham County’s judges have recused themselves from his prostitution and misconduct in office case, except one. Judge Aquilina has chosen to remain involved. That would imply that she doesn’t believe her prior professional relationship with Dunnings will affect her impartiality. But Dunnings disagrees.
According to Dunnings’ defense attorney, Judge Aquilina’s “failure to recuse herself from the present controversy” would lead lead any reasonable person to believe that she is not capable of being impartial in her dealings with Dunnings.
Dunnings believes Judge has no place being involved in his case
His attorney went on to say that in Dunnings’ former position as prosecuting attorney for Ingham County, he filed thousands of cases in local courts. Many of those cases were heard before Judge Aquilina, and several are still open. For this reason alone, Dunnings believes, the Judge has no place being involved in his case.
A hearing has been scheduled for September 14, 2016 at 11:30 am, where the issue of Judge Aquilina’s involvement will be determined by Her Honor. If Dunnings has his way, the judge will be removed from his criminal case and a different judge will be assigned by the Supreme Court. The new judge, if one is chosen, will most likely be from a nearby county.
Dunnings, who served as Ingham County’s Prosecutor for 20 years, was arrested in mid March of this year. He was charged with Pandering, nine counts of Engaging the Services of a Prostitute, and felony Misconduct in Office. On August 2nd he pled guilty to single counts of Engaging the Services of a Prostitute, and felony Misconduct in Office.
Having pled guilty to these two charges, one felony and one misdemeanor, Dunnings is facing up to five years in prison. It remains to be seen, however, who will hand down his sentence, and whether he does time behind bars. We will be watching this case closely, and will keep you updated on new developments.