BATON ROUGE — 19th JDC Judge Brad Myers has granted the motion to recuse Judge Gail Ray Horne from the Madison Brooks & Casen Carver case. District Attorney Hillar Moore’s office filed the motion to recuse on Sept. 26th.
For now, the case has been allotted to Judge Fred Crifasi pending the results of an appeal. The case is legally “stayed” pending the appeal to the First Circuit. That appeal, referred to as a Supervisory Writ, is due by Dec. 5, 2025, however the defense needs a copy of the transcript from the recusal hearing. The court reported legally has 30 days to type up the transcript. Based on that timeline, the date the appeal is due could be extended.
At the recusal hearing, Judge Myers wrote that the District Attorney’s Office failed to prove any prejudice of bias on the part of Judge Gail Ray Horne, but also said: “However, any ruling on the Motion to Recuse has to take into account the totality and the uniqueness of all of the facts presented, and cannot view each fact individually and in a vacuum.”
Myers called the text message exchange between Casen Carver and his father “particularly concerning” and later said that “These are not the “musings” of a teenager who was hoping for the best outcome in his case.”
READ NOW: Text messages between Carver & his father
The judge said that alone, the text messages were not sufficient to justify a recusal, but must be viewed within the context of the case. In addition, Myers cited the “interest of justice” and “to safeguard public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary” as reasons to require the recusal of Judge Gail Ray Horne.
Casen Carver’s attorney, Joe Long said, “No matter who won the first round the other side was going to appeal. The Supreme Court will ultimately decide this issue.”
The First Circuit Court of Appeal on March 19 rejected Long’s appeal to overturn Myers’ decision to recuse Ray.
District Attorney Hillar Moore said the following, “The motion to recuse filed by the State in this matter was based on the facts and law applicable to recusal of judges and not on any personal grounds.”
He also added,
Judge Myers drafted a very well-reasoned opinion tracking the law as it applies to recusal and granting the State’s request for recusal. His ruling reflects that he carefully considered the arguments, pleadings, and evidence filed into the record; he applied all of it to the unique facts of this case. In reviewing the Court’s opinion, and the law outlined, the recusal is not based on any perceived bias or personal relations but based on the facts and law unique to this case. As the judge wrote, based on the facts and law this recusal is required. We support the Court’s reasoned opinion and look forward to having this matter tried as expeditiously as possible.
For now, a status review to the appeal is set for January 7, 2026. If they’re able to, they will also pick a trial date at this time. Regardless which judge gets the trial, it will be a bench trial, meaning no jury.
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