Steven Tyler trial delayed after judge steps aside
The sexual assault trial against Steven Tyler will not begin on 28 September after the judge overseeing the case removed herself from it. Los Angeles County Judge Patricia A. Young announced her recusal at an afternoon hearing in Torrance, California, two weeks before trial was due to start. The trial date will now automatically come off the calendar as a result of her disqualification.
Young told those present that she had disclosed a potential conflict to both sides on Monday and asked how they wished to proceed, according to Rolling Stone. Lawyers for the parties then met to discuss whether they could agree to waive the issue and allow her to continue. A waiver in this setting is an agreement by everyone involved to let the judge stay on despite the disclosed concern. They could not reach agreement, and Young said she had to disqualify herself.
She explained that she had been consulting with another judge about the lawsuit. That discussion became a problem because the other judge had previously been removed from the case. In plain terms, recusal — also called disqualification — means a judge steps aside rather than continue when a conflict could raise questions about fairness. The test is not whether the judge acted improperly, but whether the circumstances could give reason for doubt.
The practical effect is delay. A date that is taken off calendar is removed from the court's schedule and cannot go ahead as listed. Young said that is what would happen to the 28 September start date once her disqualification was entered. The case itself has not been decided; only the question of who may preside over it has changed.
The underlying lawsuit was filed in December 2022 by Julia Misley. She claims Tyler sexually abused her for years beginning in 1973, when she was a high school sophomore and he was 25. Those are allegations that have not been determined at trial. Tyler has denied her claims and asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit, which is a request for the case to be thrown out without a full trial.
No findings about those claims were made at the hearing in Torrance. The hearing dealt only with whether Young could continue to preside over the case. A new timetable will now be a matter for the court's administrative process for reassigning cases after a disqualification.
