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ERIE COUNTY, OHIO----Visiting judge Richard Knepper has gone over the top.
Not only has he violated judicial ethics by continuing to act in a case after he has recused himself but he has by his rantings in open court established on the record that there is absolutely no semblance of impartiality or fairness in northern Ohio in any matter concerning disbarred attorney Elsebeth Baumgartner.
The U.S. Constitution guarantees the accused a fair trial by an impartial magistrate.
There's no exception for Elsebeth Baumgartner, the judicial whistleblower who has been charged with a myriad of charges including retaliation and intimidation for criticizing a judge and alleging that the judicial system in northern Ohio is corrupt.
By the actions of the prosecutors and judges in northern Ohio, Baumgartner has to say no more---their actions speak louder than her words and demonstrate the total lack of impartiality and constitutional rights being exercised in Ohio courts under color of law.
Baumgartner has been tried, convicted and imprisoned again, this time by Knepper, so out of control on the bench that perhaps he should have been sedated and referred for evaluation.
The Sandusky Register has insured that that Baumgartner can not possibly receive a fair trial in any matter in northern Ohio. However, their biased report does serve one purpose---it clearly establishes that her constitutional rights have been decimated by Knepper.
Knepper revoked Baumgartner's bond in the Erie County case which he had recused himself from last Friday. He sent her to the Erie County Jail Monday after the Erie County prosecutor's office of Kevin Baxter accused Baumgartner of unauthorized practice of law, a first degree misdemeanor, for allegedly helping Elizabeth Olhemacher write a legal motion and file it, accusing the Erie County prosecutor and others of corruption and wrongdoing in her case and seeking the removal of Knepper, assistant prosecuting attorney Sandy Rubino and defense attorney Richard Garard.
Baumgartner had been subpoenaed by Garand for a hearing Monday in the Ohlemacher case. Ohlemacher is accused of kidnapping a baby and forging a birth certificate for a non-existent baby and has been incarcerated for writing bad checks and attempted identity theft.
After Ohlemacher's mother, Elizabeth Leser, filed the motion alleging prosecutorial misconduct in Baxter's office, Baxter and Rubino filed charges against Baumgartner for providing legal services without a law license, calling the disbarred attorney a "menace to society".
Although there have been numerous allegations of improprieties concerning Baxter and the prosecutor's office, not just by Baumgartner, thus far there has been no meaningful investigation. Instead, Baxter has used his power and position to retaliate against Baumgartner for having initiated the allegations.
Knepper had sentenced Baumgartner to jail for 45 days on June 1, ruling that she was in direct contempt of court for being "obstreperous" when she appeared for trial before him in Erie County on charges of grand larceny for allegedly "stealing" her corporate vehicle that she had financed, felony fleeing and several misdemeanor charges.
Ohlemacher was an inmate at the Erie County Jail during the time Baumgartner was incarcerated on the contempt charges.
An attempt to revoke Baumgartner's bond last Friday by special Erie County prosecutor Daniel Kasaris failed and Knepper recused himself from the case.
But he was also the judge in the Ohlemacher case and admittedly "lost" it in court Monday , in a tirade which should subject him to sanctions by the state's judicial conduct panel.
Knepper reportedly told Ohlemacher's mother that he was so outraged by the motion allegedly prepared by Baumgartner that he could not be impartial in her daughter's case and was therefore disqualifying himself.
Therefore, he should have no role in taking action against Baumgartner.
He launched on a tirade, in essence finding Baumgartner guilty without trial and without legal representation. According to the Sandusky Register, Knepper said that Baumgartner's writings in the motion were "scurrilous, vicious, nasty, stupid, insane". He in essence made a unqualified psychiatric evaluation from the bench, saying that she was unable to accept responsibility for her behavior and labeled her as "disgruntled". The Register quoted Knepper as saying that "in my 23-year career on the bench, I've never been so disturbed by what I see" and said, without trial or affording Baumgartner her right to counsel, again, that she had "chosen to follow a course of action that is contrary to the pursuit of justice".
Knepper clearly was disturbed and should have immediately removed himself from the courtroom as it was obvious he couldn't remain impartial or control his anger.
Despite having disqualified himself on Friday and admitting on Monday that he "lost it", Knepper revoked Baumgartner's bond and remanded her to jail.
Due to his demonstrative bias and prejudice and his two disqualifications in addition to the egregious violations of Baumgartner's constitutional rights, Knepper's ruling should immediately be vacated and the matter moved to a venue outside of the readership area of the Sandusky Register and northern Ohio.
At the hearing, Leser said that Baumgartner had written legal motions for her daughter. Although the Sandusky Register stated that the motion "contained a host of unsubstantiated accusations against police and prosecutors, accusing them of sexual misconduct and cover-ups of drug abuse", there has never been an independent impartial investigation of these allegations, an investigation that appears to be long overdue.
Knepper went on a tirade from the bench, obviously taking the allegations personally and prejudging them without an investigation, a rather unjudicial act. Knepper told Leser that while she had constitutional rights, she didn't "have the right to maliciously attack individuals who work in a system of justice and work diligently".
Northern Ohio has been a hotbed of public corruption cases in the past year and there are currently allegations of wrongdoing involving Kevin Baxter and his handling of election rigging charges in Cuyahoga County.
According to the Register, Leser told Garand, her daughter's attorney, that Baumgartner's association with her had given her "some peace of mind because I've gotten nothing from you". Garand had entered a plea of not guilty in Ohlemacher's case due to insanity over the objections of Ohlemacher who wanted Garand removed from her case. 8-23-06
© 2006 North
Country Gazette
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