Judge recuses from Whiteside case, accuses DA Barton of creating media frenzy
HERNANDO, Miss. – In a stunning order filed Tuesday, Circuit Court Judge Andrew Howorth has recused himself from the Lindsay Whiteside case, citing intense media pressure that the judge alleges was fueled by District Attorney Matthew Barton.
The “Order of Recusal,” filed on Oct. 21, not only removes Howorth from the Whiteside case but also from “any other cases… prosecuted by Matthew Barton or others in his office in DeSoto County.”
The recusal follows a controversial sentencing hearing on Oct. 13. Howorth wrote that when a judge’s impartiality “might reasonably be questioned,” recusal is appropriate.
The order places direct responsibility for the “heightened level of public interest” on Barton, stating he held a news conference and issued public releases. The judge accused Barton of being “selective and decidedly unnuanced in his portrayal of information in the case.” The Court added that Barton’s “impressions” were “parroted not only by internet ‘influencers’, but also by numerous, allegedly responsible, news outlets who don’t seem to have conducted any of their own research.”
The core of the dispute appears to be Barton’s public complaints about the Court’s “illegal sentence,” which the judge noted was “presumably illegally lenient”. The judge defended the sentence, arguing that if the defendant was ineligible for house arrest, she “could have received probation with no period of incarceration” —a sentence the judge implies Barton would not have preferred.
In a sharp rebuke, the judge claimed Barton’s office “has actually initiated sentencing recommendations… in sex offender cases that were illegal sentences, asking the Court to sentence sex offenders to far less than the minimum allowed by law.”
The judge acknowledged that recusing is an “unusual step.” The order warns that if judges remove themselves “solely as a result of criticism from a prosecutor,” it could allow prosecutors to “keep getting judges removed… and eventually land on a judge who will do what the prosecutor wishes.” The judge wrote that this “approximates the manner in which courts operate in authoritarian regimes, such as North Korea and Iran.”
The recusal is being provided to the Mississippi Supreme Court so a new judge can be appointed.
The complete recusal order may be read here:
