Union Carbide Calls for the Recusal of Judge in $322 Million Verdict Case

RALEIGH, Miss. -- A defendant hit with a record-breaking asbestos verdict earlier this month has filed a motion to recuse the judge that presided over the trial, saying he unfairly prejudiced the defendants when he failed to disclose the fact that his parents had filed two asbestos lawsuits. Brown v. Phillips 66 Co., et al., No. 2006-196 (Miss. Cir. Ct., Smith Cty.).

In a May 16 motion filed in the Mississippi Circuit Court for Smith County, Union Carbide asks for the recusal of Judge Eddie H. Bowen on grounds that, given the judge's connections to asbestos litigation in which his …