Ohio judicial news

From Judgepedia

News about or affecting the judiciary in Ohio.

Probate judge seeks Ohio's top judicial job

Ohio: Eric Brown has announced his candidacy for the position of Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court. He has served as the Franklin County Probate Court judge since 2008. He will be running against Supreme Court Justice Maureen O'Connor to replace Thomas Moyer, who will be retiring on December 31, 2010.^[1]

Municipal judge seeks Common Pleas Court seat

East Liverpool, Ohio: Melissa Byers-Emmerling announced that she will run for a seat on the Columbiana County Court of Common Pleas. There will be an open seat on this court later this year due to the retirement of Judge David Tobin.^[1]

Ohio judge threatens defendant, may be punished by Supreme Court

Ohio: Judge Daniel Gaul of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas is under scrutiny by the Ohio Supreme Court for threatening a defendant in an assault case. Judge Gaul believed that the victim in this case had been intimidated in order to keep her from testifying, so he he threatened the defendant with jail time if the victim did not testify. The Supreme Court's disciplinary board said that this violated the state's Code of Judicial Conduct and Rules of Professional Conduct.^[1]

Yarbrough and Mandros seek judgeships in Ohio

Ohio: Judge Stephen Yarbrough, currently a visiting Ohio Courts of Common Pleas judge, plans to run for a seat on the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals. He will be running against Keila Cosme, who was appointed temporary judge of the court after the death of Judge William Skow.

Dean Mandros, Chief of the Criminal Division for the Lucas County Prosecutor's office, will seek a seat on the Ohio Courts of Common Pleas. The seats of four Common Pleas Court judges will be up for election later this year.^[1]

Ohio federal courthouse to get security upgrades

Columbus, Ohio: The federal courthouse in Ohio's capitol city of Columbus will receive security upgrades. The upgrades were planned before the tragic shooting at a Las Vegas federal courthouse on January 4, 2010.

Metal detectors and security screenings will remain normal; improvements are planned in the screening area when people walk into courthouse. Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Babtist declined to give specifics, but said that the improvements are designed to address vulnerabilities in the security screening area. No timetable for completion has been announced. ^[1]

First Hispanic judge appointed to Ohio appellate court

Ohio: Governor Ted Strickland has appointed the first Hispanic to serve on an appellate court in Ohio. She is Keila Cosme, an attorney from Toledo. Cosme was appointed to fill the remainder of William Skow's term on the Ohio Sixth District Court of Appeals after he passed away. She will take her seat on November 16, 2009. If Cosme wishes to retain the seat when her appointment expires, she must run for it in the 2010 general election. ^[1]

Cosme was born in Puerto Rico, and moved to the United States when she was 17 years old. She graduated from Boston University in 1990 and the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1994. Cosme is married with two children. ^[2]

Prior to her judicial appointment, Cosme was a partner with the Toledo law firm Cosme, D'Angelo, and Szollosi since 2001. She worked primarily in civil litigation, with an emphasis on "complex commercial litigation and personal injury/wrongful death actions". ^[2] She was in private practice at the Law Offices of Keila D. Cosme from 1998-2001 and was with the firm Calfee, Halter and Griswold from 1995-98. ^[3]

Magistrate judge recommended for seat on federal district court

Ohio: Federal magistrate judge Benita Pearson has been recommended by Ohio's two U.S. senators to President Obama to fill an Article III federal vacancy on the District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. The opening is due to the assumption of senior status by Peter Economus.

If the recommendation is accepted by President Obama the Senate must still vote to confirm the nomination. If confirmed, Pearson would become the first black woman to receive a seat in the Ohio Federal Districts.

"David Sierleja, first assistant U.S. attorney in Cleveland, called Pearson 'an extremely hardworking, very bright' lawyer who did an outstanding job prosecuting public-corruption cases." ^[1]

Judge Boyko throws the book at broker

Ohio: Federal judge Christopher Boyko sentenced disgraced investment banker Phillip Rossi to twelve years in federal prison on July 13, 2009. Rossi was found guilty of bilking investors out of $3.5 million.

Boyko threw out the normal sentencing guidelines and gave Rossi twice the maximum sentence the guidelines would have allowed. Rossi pleaded guilty to a single count of fraud.

In explaining his rationale for the sentence, Boyko took issue with Rossi continuing to defraud investors after he had been confronted last fall by both FBI and postal service investigators. Boyko also noted that the twelve year sentence was warranted when Rossi continued to contact victims after his indictment. "That to me is the height of arrogance and greed," said Judge Boyko. ^[1]

Articles: Overview (click on link for complete article)

• Appeals court slaps Portage County judge for gaps in trial records (12/23/08)
• Ohio Judges Contradictory Private Judge Ruling (7/23/2008)
• Proposed public-access rules for court records will go to Ohio Supreme Court for review, June 28, 2008
• The New Politics of Judicial Elections in the Great Lakes States, 2000-2008

References