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CUYAHOGA COUNTY, OHIO----The county becoming known nationwide for its judicial tyranny in the free speech case of disbarred attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner has another notch in its belt.
Flexing her black robe because she says an assistant prosecutor in the office of county prosecutor Bill Mason treated her "like a punk", Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge Eileen Gallagher has seriously harmed one alleged rape victim's perception of the criminal justice system, victimizing her twice.
Gallagher has dismissed rape charges against Norman Allen Craig, 22, of North Ridgeville because assistant county prosecutor Mark Schneider was 45 minutes late for trial.
It took six years for the now 16-year-old girl to come forward to tell the police that Craig, her next-door neighbor, had allegedly raped her and her mother says that her daughter now feels victimized by the court system.
Prosecutors have appealed the judge's dismissal and have said if necessary, they will refile charges against Craig.
The trial was scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. but earlier in the day, Schneider had asked Gallagher to recuse herself because she had shown signs of prejudging the case last year when she had stated that she thought the girl had credibility problems. Earlier in the day, the judge had refused to allow records of the Department of Children and Family Services to be used by the defense, leading to the defense attorney seeking to have a bench trial by the judge rather than a jury trial. Schneider had objected, based on Gallagher's previous statement that the entire case rested on the word of the girl.
Schneider opposed Gallagher continuing on the case saying that she shouldn't be rendering opinions before trial. Schneider was in his office at 1 p.m. instead of the court, preparing a motion to prevent Gallagher from continuing in the case and proceeding to trial.
But when he didn't appear in court by 1:45 p.m., the judge dismissed the charges against Craig, saying that it had nothing to do with the accuser's credibility but that it was about what she deemed the "unprofessional actions" of Schneider. "You don't show up---too bad. Don't treat me like a punk and not show up in court without giving us the courtesy of notifying us where you are".
Controversy has been swirling in recent days around Gallagher. After she had sentenced a man convicted of drug sales to a year in prison, the man's brother became unruly. As courtroom deputies tried to subdue the brother and the defendant, the judge pressed the security alarm underneath the bench to summon assistance to the courtroom.
The panic buttons were broken, leading Gallagher to demand that the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's office, responsible for courtroom security, immediately address the problem. When the court administrator called in a repairman, he was told the system was obsolete and couldn't be fixed leading him to purchase a $50,000 wireless alarm system. Court officials said that they had applied for federal grant money to update the court's security system and wanted to obtain the funding before they fixed the system.
They have opted to proceed before receipt of the grant money.
6-20-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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