Can a judge be disqualified under section 170.1 of the California Code of Civil Procedure?

Code of Civil Procedure section 170.1, subdivision (c), provides: "At the request of a party or on its own motion an appellate court shall consider whether in the interests of justice it should direct that further proceedings be heard before a trial judge other than the judge whose judgment or order was reviewed by the appellate court." The power of the appellate court to disqualify a trial judge under section 170.1 "should be exercised sparingly, and only if the interests of justice require it." (Hernandez v. Superior Court (2003) 112 Cal.App.4th 285, 303.) "The interests of justice require it, for example, where a reasonable person might doubt whether the trial judge was impartial [citation], or where the court's rulings suggest the 'whimsical disregard' of a statutory scheme." (Ibid.)