Month: August 2019

Press Release

Cincinnati Community Outraged by the Dragging & Jailing of Juvenile Court Judge

Cincinnati, OH – June 25, 2019 – The decision of Judge Patrick Dinkelacker to have Judge Tracie M. Hunter locked up in jail for six-months, was shameful and disgraceful, and it served no purpose other than to demonstrate the lack of judicial impartiality and unfairness within the Hamilton County Court System. Moreover, these actions have deepened the racial divide within the Cincinnati community. 

 
Judge Hunter is not in the best physical health as a result of injuries from a near fatal car accident she endured years ago. The brutal force by which she was removed, and drug out of the courtroom, despite the fact that she did not resist, was further evidence of the egregiousness and vindictiveness of this entire case.

Judge Hunter has no prior record and has been an upstanding leader, judge and pastor in our community for many decades. Her incarceration is also a hardship upon her family, particularly her elderly mother for whom Judge Hunter is the primary caretaker. It is also a hardship on the church congregation, where she is the senior pastor.

Although, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters recused himself from the case due to a conflict of interest, to make it appear that he had no involvement, he interfered and controlled the entire process from start to finish. Deters brought the charges, selected the special prosecutors, and used his own budget and asset forfeiture funds to pay for the entire case. Special prosecutors could have been attained free of charge, but instead he chose to secure a no bid multi-million dollar public contract for his personal criminal defense and divorce attorneys. His involvement culminated today in a letter addressed to Judge Dinkelacker, recommending that Judge Hunter undergo a mental evaluation. This recommendation by Deters influenced Judge Dinkelacker to remand Hunter to the psych unit in the county jail.

Judge Hunter is a political prisoner, who now stands falsely accused and convicted of a crime she did not commit. She had no involvement in her brother’s termination hearings. Additionally, three jurors came forward to say that guilty was not their verdict. The composition of Hunter’s jury and the jury pool was composed almost entirely by those with connections to her political adversaries.

This case needs to be investigated by an independent body, with no connection to the prosecutor or judges in Hamilton County. Hunter is also in need of independent counsel from outside of the county. There will be ongoing action steps shared with the community once they are finalized. It’s time for those who believe in justice and fairness to stand up and speak out on this unnecessary and unjust decision.

More information about Judge Hunter’s nearly 10 year battle with the prosecutor and his political cronies can be found on traciehunterlegaldefensefunds.com website.

The Coalition for a Just Hamilton County

The Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP 

The Greater Cincinnati National Action Network

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)

Interdenominational Ministry Alliance

The Nation of Islam

The Church Collaborative

Concerned Citizens for Justice

Cincinnati Black United Front

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For more information contact:

513-604-6265

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Press Release

Cincinnati is likely to erupt, if the first black and democratic judge goes to jail on Monday morning

Cincinnati, OH – June 20, 2019 – Last week, thousands of Cincinnatians took to the streets for a protest march, a chain of justice and a protest demonstration in front of the prosecutor’s office in support of Judge Tracie Marie Hunter. Hunter is the first African-American and the first Democrat to become a judge in the Hamilton County Juvenile Court’s 110-year history.  Hunter won her seat after a heated 18-month court battle and numerous appeals reaching the U.S Supreme Court by the Board of Elections, who refused to count thousands of votes from majority Democrat and black precincts. The federal court ruled in Hunter’s favor and ordered the BOE to count several hundred votes, that overturned the election, sealing Hunter’s win. Hunter’s political adversaries, angered by her winning the election, filed an unprecedented 30 lawsuits against Judge Hunter in retaliation, after she had served less than 9 months on the bench.

Prosecutor Joe Deters, who fought Hunter in the Board of Elections case, forced Hunter to be represented by his office in the 30 lawsuits filed by his cronies. He further caused the lawsuits to result in default judgements against Hunter when he failed to file answers in those cases. After Hunter filed ethics charges with the Ohio Supreme Court against Deters for simultaneously suing her in the election case, and representing her as Judge. Deters then withdraw his representation, but appointed two attorneys he controlled, to represent her. Neither lawyer had ever practiced juvenile law or represented public officials.

In retaliation, Deters accused Hunter of crimes two weeks later and recommended his personal criminal defense and divorce attorneys to prosecute her, awarding them a million dollar contract. They charged her with 10 felonies. According to State Senator Cecil Thomas, these charges were a successful ploy by Deters to keep Hunter off the bench for the majority of her six-year term, so that John Williams, who lost the election to Hunter, could unilaterally control the Juvenile Court. Deters claims that he had nothing to do with her prosecution, but used his personal county budget and asset forfeiture funds to pay for the court case, when he could have secured attorneys free of charge through the Ohio Attorney General.

Judge Hunter, the senior pastor of The Western Hills Brethren in Christ Church in Cincinnati, and the sole caregiver for her mother, has been sentenced to six-months in jail. Hunter is expected to appear in court and be taken into custody Monday, July 22nd. She has exhausted her appeals. On May 29^th, Judge Timothy Black lifted the stay and upheld the five-year-old conviction against Hunter for securing a public contract, despite the fact that there was no contract secured and no evidence to convict her of the charge. Judge Black is a Hamilton County resident and politically connected to the Republican establishment in Cincinnati. Black ignored the fact that the trial court judge refused to poll the jury, in violation of the law. The only three black jurors on Hunter’s trial said that guilty was not their verdict, and stated in sworn affidavits that they would have said so if Judge Norbert Nadel had polled them.

Over three million dollars of tax-payer money has been spent in the 10-year court battle to keep Hunter off the bench; and 120,000 votes to elect Hunter to the bench have been nullified. High-ranking government officials have warned that Cincinnati may erupt in violence on Monday, given the fact most people think she did not receive a fair trial and is facing jail for political and racial reasons.

Numerous civil rights organizations are backing Hunter, including the Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP, the Cincinnati branch of the National Action Network, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Interdenominational Ministry Alliance, the Nation of Islam, the Church Collaborative, Concerned Citizens for Justice, and the Black United Front, which called for the successful economic boycott in 2001. The groups formed the Coalition for a Just Hamilton County, which is also composed of pastors, city and state government officials and members of the community at-large. The Democratic Party is also backing Hunter.

Cincinnati, which was rated by MSN Money as one of the worst places for blacks to live, is no stranger to racial disparity and social and economic disruption. In 2001, after a rash of police killings of unarmed black men, civil rights groups called for a boycott of the city and demanded justice for the families, convictions for killer cops and reform in policing in Cincinnati. Since then, the city has regressed. Major gentrification and displacement of black people from their homes, the disrespect of black leadership, a high unemployment rate and substantial black poverty has plagued the city. But it is the wrongful conviction and possible jailing of Judge Tracie Hunter that has the city on edge and demonstrators planning to spend the night on the courthouse steps Sunday night, to await her court appearance.

The civil rights groups insist that “Hunter was framed by the good ole boys and falsely charged with crimes, after she discovered that the prosecutor was hiding evidence and locking up innocent kids (mostly black boys), for crimes they didn’t commit”. They assert that the prosecutor and his political cronies fixed her jury and were able to convict her by putting their friends and associates on her jury and by controlling every level of the court from the First District Court of Appeals, where Deters” mother-in-law Sylvia Hendon was presiding judge, and his brother Dennis was later appointed. Ohio Supreme Court Justice Patrick DeWine, who previously sat on the First District Court of Appeals, and ruled against Hunter on several cases, is also beholden to Prosecutor Deters. Deters’ tentacles reach to the federal court, where Judge Timothy Black, a former Republican, recently ruled against Hunter in the US District Court.  

Reverend Damon Lynch III, says he and several other prominent pastors are also prepared to go to jail if Hunter is incarcerated. Lynch is a beloved pastor in Cincinnati, who leads New Prospect Baptist Church, a sizable congregation in Cincinnati. Lynch says that “If Hunter goes to jail, you can be assured that Cincinnati will be volatile at best”. Victoria Straughn, of Concerned Citizens for Justice, warned Hamilton County Commissioners that “if Judge Hunter goes to jail, we are willing to take Cincinnati right back to where it was in 2001, when riots and a boycott brought the city economically to its knees.

Judge Hunter’s jury consisted of an employee of WCPO TV, a station that sued Hunter after she barred media from publishing the names and faces of accused children. Court testimony revealed that Hunter made this decision after the KKK threatened 12-year-old children and their families in front of North College Hill Elementary School. An attorney from the law firm that represented WCPO was in the jury pool, and the spouse of one of the firm’s attorneys, Sandra Kirkham, was the jury forewoman. After the trial, it was discovered that she had contributed $500 to State Senator Bill Seitz, the father of Hamilton County Jury Coordinator, Brad Seitz. The best friend of the state’s key witness, Assistant Prosecutor Katie Pridemore, was on the jury, and a man who identified himself as a friend of Curt Kissenger (now a Municipal Court judge, previously the Juvenile Court Administrator). The best friend of Judge John Williams, the juvenile court judge who lost to Hunter, was also on the jury. Judge Norbert Nadel allowed four people to sit on Hunter’s jury who said that they believed she was guilty before the trial began.

The jury pool was composed primarily of jurors from predominantly Republican districts in the County, with very few in the pool from the larger city of Cincinnati, which is highly Democratic and composed of over 51% people of color. The composition of the jury pool and other jury improprieties, uncovered in Hunter’s case, raises considerable suspicion that the jury was fixed and that several judges and the prosecutor colluded to convict her of crimes that the state’s own witnesses testified she did not commit. 

Hunter’s appeals attorney found over 51 instances where the special prosecutors engaged in prosecutorial misconduct. She was also denied judicial immunity, which should have protected her from having to stand trial for charges that arose out of her administrative duties as judge. After a forensics expert discovered that Republican officials in the juvenile court illegally destroyed computer evidence that could have exonerated her, Special Prosecutors dropped the nine remaining charges. It appears they framed her.

In August 2017, reporter James McNair discovered that the Cincinnati Hamilton County Prosecutor, Joe Deters and son of Governor Mike Dewine and Ohio Supreme Court Justice, Pat Dewine had engaged in the same conduct for which they had falsely brought charges and convicted Judge Hunter. State Senator Cecil Thomas referred the case to the presiding Common Pleas Judge and the Republican dominated Ohio Supreme Court Disciplinary Committee, who ultimately chose not to bring charges against the pair.

The denial of the right of blacks to serve as Common Pleas judges in Ohio has been pervasive and has led to the denial of fair trials, mistreatment, and mass incarceration of blacks, especially juveniles who are not entitled to legal representation in Ohio’s courts. The privatized juvenile justice system receives about $220,000 per year per child to incarcerate a juvenile. Over 92% of the incarcerated children were black during the time Hunter served, 97% of them were black boys. Having a fair system would significantly reduce the profit margins of privatized juvenile detention centers.

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For more information contact:

Dr. Vanessa Enoch, Ph.D., MBA

vanessa.enoch@gmail.com

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Press Release

The community is standing with the first black and democratic judge who is schedule to go to jail on Monday morning

Cincinnati, OH – June 20, 2019 – Last week, thousands of Cincinnatians took to the streets for a protest march, a chain of justice and a protest demonstration in front of the prosecutor’s office in support of Judge Tracie Marie Hunter. Hunter is the first African-American and the first Democrat to become a judge in the Hamilton County juvenile court’s 110-year history.  Hunter won her seat after a heated 18-month court battle and numerous appeals by the county board of elections, which refused to count more than 800 votes from majority Democrat and black precincts.  When Hunter learned that the votes were disqualified after poll workers sent voters to the wrong precinct, she filed a lawsuit to have those votes counted. The federal court ruled in her favor and compelled the board of elections to count the votes. Hunter’s political adversaries were unhappy with her election; filing an unprecedented 30 lawsuits against Judge Hunter in retaliation after she had served less than 9 months on the bench.

Prosecutor Joe Deters, who had fought Hunter in the Board of Elections case, insisted that his office represent her in the 30 lawsuits filed by his cronies, and he allowed the lawsuits to go to default judgements. After Hunter filed ethics charges with the Ohio Supreme Court against Deters for suing and representing her at the same time, Deters discontinued his representation and hired two attorneys to represent her that were unfamiliar with juvenile law and juvenile court proceedings. They continued the practice of not filing answers to the cases.

In retaliation, Deters subsequently alleged that Hunter had committed 10 felonies, and he recommended his personal criminal defense and divorce attorneys to prosecute her, giving them a million dollar no bid contract. These charges were a successful ploy by Deters to keep Hunter off the bench for the majority of her six-year term, so that John Williams a former Republican prosecutor and past Director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, who had lost the election to Hunter, could unilaterally control the Juvenile Court. Deters claims that he had nothing to do with her prosecution, but used his personal county budget and asset forfeiture funds to pay for the court case, when he could have secured attorneys free of charge through the Ohio Attorney General.

Judge Hunter, who is the pastor of The Western Hills Brethren in Christ Church in Cincinnati, and is the sole caregiver for her aging mother has been sentenced to a six-month jail sentence and is expected to appear in court and be taken into custody on Monday, July 22, for what community leaders and civil rights groups are calling trumped up charges and a false conviction designed to remove her from the bench. Hunter has exhausted all of her appeals. On May 29^th, federal court Judge Timothy Black lifted the stay and upheld the five-year-old conviction against Hunter for securing a public contract, despite the fact that there was no evidence to convict her of the charge. Judge Black, who is a Hamilton County resident and still politically connected to the Republican establishment in Cincinnati, ignored the fact that the trial court judge refused to poll the jury, in violation of the law. The only three black jurors on Hunters trial said that guilty was not their verdict, and in signed affidavits they said that if Judge Norbert Nadel had polled them they would have said so

Last week, Hunter’s supporters also addressed members of Cincinnati City Council and the Hamilton County Commissioners, to express their outrage over the nullification of 120,000 votes and more than $3,000,000 of tax payers money that has been spent in the 10-year court battle to keep Hunter off the bench. High ranking government officials have warned that Cincinnati may erupt in violence on Monday, given the circumstances surrounding why she may go to jail.

Several civil rights organizations are backing Hunter, including the Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP,  the Cincinnati branch of the National Action Network, The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Interdenominational Ministry Alliance, the Nation of Islam, the Church Collaborative, Concerned Citizens for Justice, and the Black United Front, which called for the successful economic boycott in 2001. The groups formed the Coalition for a Just Hamilton County, which is also composed of pastors, city and state government officials and members of the community at-large. The Democratic Party is also backing Hunter.

Cincinnati, which was rated by MSN Money as one of the worst places for blacks to live, is no stranger to racial disparity and social and economic disruption. In 2001 after a rash of police killings of unarmed black men, civil rights groups called for a boycott of the city demanding justice for the families, convictions for killer cops and structural change in policing in Cincinnati. Since then the city has regressed. Major gentrification and displacement of black people from their homes, the disrespect of black leadership, a high unemployment rate and substantial black poverty has plagued the city. But it is the wrongful conviction and possible jailing of Judge Tracie Hunter that has the city on edge and demonstrators planning to spend the night on the courthouse steps this Sunday night, awaiting her court appearance.

The civil rights groups insist that “Hunter was framed by the good ole boys and falsely charged with crimes, after she discovered that the prosecutor was hiding evidence and locking up innocent kids (mostly black boys), for crimes they didn’t commit”. They assert that the prosecutor and his political cronies fixed her jury and were able to convict her by putting their friends and associates on her jury and by controlling every level of the court from the First District Court of Appeals, where his mother-in-law was presiding judge, and his brother was later appointed to the Ohio Supreme Court, where Patrick Dewine, who previously also sat on the First District Court of Appeals, and ruled against Hunter on several cases is also beholden to Prosecutor Deters. Deters tentacles reach all the way to the federal court where Judge Timothy Black, a formal Republican recently ruled against Hunter at the federal court level. Now they plan to put her in jail, a few days before the Jazz Festival, the city’s largest black festival. Reverend Damon Lynch III said, “If that happens, you can be assured that Cincinnati will be volatile at best”. If Hunter goes to jail, Lynch says he and several other pastors are also prepared to go to jail. Lynch is a beloved pastor in Cincinnati, who leads a sizable congregation in Cincinnati.

In the criminal trial, Judge Hunter faced a jury composed of friends, neighbors, attorneys, and wives of her political foes. One juror worked for WCPO TV, a station that sued Hunter after she barred media from publishing the names and faces of accused children. Court testimony revealed that Hunter made this decision after the KKK threatened 12 year old children and their families in front of North College Hill Elementary School.  An attorney from the law firm that represented WCPO was in the jury pool, and the spouse of one of the firm’s attorneys, Sandra Kirkham, became the jury forewoman. After the trial it was discovered that she had contributed $500 to State Senator Bill Seitz, the father of Hamilton County Jury Coordinator, Brad Seitz. The best friend of Assistant Prosecutor Katie Pridemore, the key witness in the case, was on the jury, and a man who described himself as the best friend of Curt Kissenger (now a Municipal Court judge, previously the Juvenile Court Administrator). The best friend of Judge John Williams, the juvenile court judge who lost to Hunter, was also on the jury.

The jury pool was also composed primarily of jurors from predominantly Republican districts in the County, with very few in the pool from the larger city of Cincinnati, which is highly Democratic and composed of over 51% people of color. The composition of the jury pool and other jury improprieties, uncovered in Hunter’s case, raises considerable suspicion that the jury was fixed and that several judges and the prosecutor colluded to convict her of crimes she did not commit. 

Hunter’s appeals attorney found over 51 instances where the special prosecutors violated her right to a fair trial. She was also denied judicial immunity, which should have protected her from having to stand trial for charges that arose out of her administrative duties as judge.

While the Special Prosecutors sought to try Hunter on a 10^th charge, that grew out of the same fact pattern, and retry her on 8 of the charges that resulted in a mistrial, her attorneys discovered that Republican officials in the juvenile court illegally. destroyed computer evidence that could have exonerated her. After this discovery, the Special Prosecutors dropped the nine remaining charges.

In August 2017, reporter James McNair broke a story showing that the Cincinnati Hamilton County Prosecutor, Joe Deters and son of Governor Mike Dewine and Ohio Supreme Court Justice, Pat Dewine had engaged in the same conduct for which they had falsely brought charges and convicted Judge Hunter. State Senator, Cecil Thomas referred the case to the Republican dominated Ohio Supreme Court Disciplinary Committee, which ultimately chose not to bring charges against the pair.

The Prosecutor’s Office and several Republican judges have participated in the political takedown of Judge Hunter. The denial of the right of blacks to serve as Common Pleas judges in Ohio has been pervasive and has led to the denial of fair trials, mistreatment, and mass incarceration of blacks, especially juveniles who are not entitled to legal representation in Ohio’s courts. The privatized juvenile justice system receives about $220,000 per year per child to incarcerate a juvenile. Over 92% of the incarcerated children were black during the time Hunter served, 97% of them were black boys. Having a fair system would significantly reduce the profit margins of privatized prison entities.

####

For more information contact:

Dr. Vanessa Enoch, Ph.D., MBA

vanessa.enoch@gmail.com

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CHAIN OF JUSTICE

In support of the exoneration of honorable Judge Tracie Hunter

Join us as we create a Chain of Justice on Reading Road from MLK Avenue in Avondale to Summit Road in Bond Hill on SUNDAY, July 14^th, from 2pm-4pm.  The Call to Action -Townhall on Saturday June 22^nd, was a success after hundreds came out to support the honorable Judge Tracie Hunter to learn ways they could help as she continues this ten-year fight for her innocence and freedom.  The Coalition of a Just Hamilton County which consist of many organizations: Interdenominational Ministry Alliance, Cincinnati NAACP, National Action Network, The Black United Front, SCLC, Nation of Islam, The Church Collaborative, Concerned Citizens for Justice, Community Church of Cincinnati, New Vision Missionary Baptist Church, In God’s Hands Christian Youth Center and the Western Hills Brethren in Christ Church.

Citizens of all ages and background gather on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and strategized on ways to grab national attention to the incredible miscarriage of justice that has our first elected African American Female Democrat Juvenile Court Judge removed from her seat and forced into unjust imprisonment.

SUPPRESSING YOUR VOTE

After the Board of Elections discarded thousands of votes in the 2010 election, Judge Hunter fought in federal court for those votes to be counted. Hunter proved that many Black Voters’ provisional ballots were thrown out, due to poll-worker error. The election lawsuit lasted nearly two years, but the court

ruled in Hunter’s favor, ordered provisional votes to be counted and solidified Hunter as the first African-American and first Democrat Juvenile Court Judge in the history of Hamilton County.

UNPRECEDENTED RETALIATION

They could not beat Hunter at the ballot box, so they tried to beat her down on the bench. Close to 30

improper lawsuits were filed against Judge Hunter. When the prosecutor’s office insisted on representing Hunter, despite a conflict of interest, and intentionally lost those cases, by failing to answer them, Hunter filed an ethics complaint against the Prosecutor’s office. Prosecutor Deters retaliated with 10 trumped up felony charges, bypassing Hunter’s judicial immunity. Nine charges were dismissed after a forensic expert proved her accusers destroyed the computer hard drive and sold it.

DISREGARD OF THE LAW AND FAIRNESS

Judge Nadel refused to poll the jury, per ORC 2945.77. When the jurors agree upon their verdict, they must be conducted into court by the officer having them in charge. Before the verdict is accepted, the jury may be polled at the request of either the prosecuting attorney or the defendant. If one of the jurors, upon being polled, declares that said verdict is not his verdict, the jury must further

deliberate upon the case. 

GUI LTY WAS NOT MY VERDICT

After Judge Nadel refused poll the jurors publicly, three African-American jurors signed sworn affidavits stating, “guilty was not their verdict.” Despite this revelation, Judge Nadel refused to declare a mistrial or grant a new trial. Not only was Judge Nadel unfair, but he went out of his way to deny justice to Judge Hunter.

KANGAROO COURT

Judge Hunter was denied judicial immunity. The Judge currently presiding over her case, (Patrick Dinkelacker), ran over and killed a black woman, but was never charged with her death and is still a Judge. The Prosecutor that had Hunter indicted was caught securing a public contract for

Ohio Supreme Court Justice Pat Dewine’s sons, which is a violation of ORC 2921.42, but neither were charged with crimes. The JUST-US System.

THE 10 YEAR F IGHT FOR JUSTICE

The ongoing fight for freedom and total exoneration has lasted nearly 10 years. Although Judge Hunter remains strong in her faith, she may be forced to pay the ultimate cost of jail to defend the TRUTH. We ask our community to unite and stand for someone who sacrificed everything to stand for us.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

1. Sign the online petition on Change.org (Dismiss the Charge Against Honorable Judge Tracie Hunter)
2. Join 100 men and 100 women as they stand in solidarity with Judge Hunter at the Courthouse (downtown) July 22, @8am
3. Bring friends and family to join the Chain of Justice on Reading Road from MLK Avenue in Avondale to Summit Road in Bond Hill.
4. Go to the Cincinnati NAACP to sign the Prosecutor Term Limit Petition
5. Commit to the ongoing fight for Justice at the Juvenile Court in Hamilton County

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Press Release

Hundreds turned out at a Call-to-Action meeting in support of Judge Tracie Hunter

Cincinnati, OH – June 25, 2019 – Hundreds turned out at a Call-to-Action meeting in support of Judge Tracie Hunter on Saturday, June 2. Several Civil Rights organizations organized the event after Former Republican federal court judge, Timothy Black upheld a five-year-old conviction of Judge Tracie Hunter. Black lifted the stay and ruled against Judge Hunter on May 29, 2019, on a conviction for securing a public contract, despite the fact that there was no evidence to convict her of the charge, and the only three black jurors on the case said that guilty was not their verdict. Judge Hunter who is the pastor of a church in Cincinnati, and is the sole caregiver for her aging mother has been sentenced to a six-month jail sentence. She is scheduled to report for execution of sentencing on July 22.

The Coalition for a Just Hamilton County, composed of members from Interdenominational Ministry Alliance, the Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP, Cincinnati National Action Network, The Black United Front, SCLC, the Nation of Islam, The Church Collaborative, Concerned Citizens for Justice, Community Church of Cincinnati, and numerous other churches and organizations planned the Call-to-Action event to provide the community with an opportunity to share their ideas and express their concerns. After hearing from Judge Hunter, Senator Thomas, and the leadership of the civil rights organizations, strategy teams were formed to discuss ideas for ensuring justice f.   or Judge Hunter and the children, whose constitutional rights she was fighting for.

Hunter is the first African-American and first Democrat to become Juvenile Court Judge in Hamilton County’s 110-year history.  She won her seat after a heated 18 month court battle and numerous appeals by the Hamilton County Board of Elections, which refused to count more than 800 votes from majority Democrat and black precincts.  When Hunter learned that the votes were disqualified after poll workers sent voters to the wrong precinct, she filed a lawsuit to have those votes counted. The federal court ruled in her favor and compelled the Board of Elections to count the votes.

An unprecedented 30 lawsuits were filed against her by her Republican adversaries in retaliation in less than 9 months on the bench. Prosecutor Joe Deters, who had fought Hunter in the Board of Elections lawsuit, accused her of crimes after she filed ethics charges against him with the Ohio Supreme Court. Deters subsequently alleged that Hunter had committed 10 felony charges, and he recommended his personal criminal defense and divorce attorneys to prosecute Hunter, giving them a million dollar no bid contract. These charges were a successful ploy by Deters to keep Hunter off the bench for the majority of her six-year term, so that John Williams, a former Republican prosecutor and past Director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, could unilaterally control the Juvenile Court. 

In the criminal trial, Judge Hunter faced a jury composed of friends, neighbors, attorneys, and wives of her political foes.  The composition of the jury pool and other jury improprieties uncovered in Hunter’s case raise considerable suspicion. Hunter’s appeals attorney found over 51 instances where the special prosecutors violated her right to a fair trial. She was also denied judicial immunity, which should have protected her from having to stand trial for charges that arose out of her administrative duties as judge.

The judge in the case refused a motion for a retrial after he refused to poll the jury, in clear violation of the law and at the request of Hunter’s Attorney.  At the close of trial, three jurors came forward and said that their true verdict was not guilty, and if Judge Norbert Nadel had polled the jury, they would have said so.  Hunter was convicted on one of the 10 charges. She lost her appeal to the court where Prosecutor Deters’ Mother-in-law, Sylvia Hendon served as presiding judge.

While the Special Prosecutors sought to again to retry the charges pursuant the mistrial, Judge Hunter’s attorneys discovered that Republican officials in the juvenile court destroyed computer evidence that could have exonerated her. After this discovery, the Special Prosecutors dropped the nine remaining charges.

In August 2017, reporter James McNair broke a story showing that the Cincinnati Hamilton County Prosecutor, Joe Deters and son of Governor Mike Dewine and Ohio Supreme Court Justice, Pat Dewine had engaged in the same conduct for which they had falsely brought charges and convicted Judge Hunter. State Senator, Cecil Thomas referred the case to the Republican dominated Ohio Supreme Court Disciplinary Committee, which ultimately chose not to bring charges against the pair.

The Prosecutor’s Office and several Republican judges have participated in the political takedown of Judge Hunter. The denial of the right of blacks to serve as Common Pleas judges in Ohio has been pervasive and has led to the denial of fair trials, mistreatment, and mass incarceration of blacks, especially juveniles who are not entitled to legal representation in Ohio’s courts. The privatized juvenile justice system receives about $220,000 per year per child to incarcerate a juvenile. Over 92% of the incarcerated children were black during the time Hunter served. Having a fair system would significantly reduce the profit margins of privatized prison entities.

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For more information contact:

Dr. Vanessa Enoch, Ph.D., MBA

Contributor to the Cincinnati Herald

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Press Release

Republican Judge plans to send a pastor and the first black and Democratic juvenile court judge to jail

Cincinnati, OH – June 7, 2019 –Former Republican federal court judge upheld a five-year-old conviction of Judge Tracie Hunter. On May 29, 2019, Judge Timothy Black upheld the one conviction against Judge Hunter, despite the fact that there was no evidence to convict her of the charge, and three of the jurors on the case said that guilty was not their verdict. Hunter was charged with securing a public contract. No evidence was ever presented in the case to substantiate that claim. Initially, Special Prosecutors alleged that she had secured work hours for her brother, but after evidence was presented in court that her brother had been working for the court for seven years before she arrived on the bench, and she had no involvement in securing his hours, the Prosecutors changed the narrative and alleged that she tried to help him keep his job. She was inevitably convicted for something she was never actually charged with.  Judge Hunter who is the pastor of a church in Cincinnati, and is the sole caregiver for her aging mother has been sentenced to a six-month jail sentence. She is scheduled to report for execution of sentencing any day now at the discretion of the trial court judge.

Hunter is the first African-American and first Democrat to become Juvenile Court Judge in Hamilton County’s 110-year history.  Hunter won her seat after a heated court battle and numerous appeals by the Hamilton County Board of Elections, which refused to count more than 800 votes from majority Democrat and black precincts in Cincinnati, OH.  Prosecutor Joe Deters represented the Board of Elections against Judge Hunter in the voter disenfranchisement lawsuit.  When Hunter learned that the votes were disqualified after poll workers sent voters to the wrong precinct, she filed a lawsuit to have those votes counted. The federal court ruled in her favor and compelled the Board of Elections to count the votes. After the votes were counted, the election was overturned in Hunter’s favor. She finally took the bench after an 18-month court battle. Nearly 120,000 voters elected Hunter to the bench. 

Within five months of Hunter’s swearing in, Republican county officials in the Prosecutor’s office, Commissioner’s office, Public Defenders office, the Cincinnati Enquirer, and WCPO TV began filing random and frivolous lawsuits against Hunter.  An unprecedented 30 lawsuits were filed against her in less than 9 months on the bench. The Prosecutor, who had fought Hunter in the Board of Elections lawsuit accused Hunter of crimes, after Republican attorneys failed to file responses and allowed the 30 lawsuits to go to default judgments. Immediately after Hunter filed ethics charges against him with the Ohio Supreme Court surrounding ethical violations on the part of the prosecutors office on juvenile cases in her court, Republican Prosecutor Joe Deters retaliated and subsequently alleged that Hunter had committed 10 felony charges, and he recommended his personal criminal defense and divorce attorneys, Merlyn Shiverdecker and Scott Croswell, III as Special Prosecutors to prosecute Hunter giving them a million dollar no bid contract, after Judge Hunter had only served as a juvenile court judge for 18 months. Croswell’s law firm represented Prosecutor Deters in his personal divorce case. These charges were a successful ploy by Deters to keep Hunter off the bench for the majority of her six-year term, so that John Williams, a former Republican prosecutor and past Director of the Hamilton County Board of Elections, could unilaterally control the Juvenile Court.  

In the criminal trial, Judge Hunter faced a jury composed of friends, neighbors, attorneys, and wives of her political foes.  One juror worked for WCPO TV, the station that sued Hunter after she barred media from publishing the names and faces of accused children in one of the cases that was before her. Court testimony revealed that Hunter made this decision after the KKK threatened the 12-year-old children and their families in front of North College Hill Elementary School.  An attorney from the law firm that represented WCPO in the suit they filed against Hunter was in the jury pool, and the spouse of one of the firm’s attorneys became the jury foreperson. An employee of the television station that sued Judge Hunter was also on her jury. WCPO’s case was still pending in court at the time the attorney and the employee was put on her jury.

The composition of the jury pool and other jury improprieties uncovered in Hunter’s case raise considerable suspicion.  The jury pool was composed primarily of jurors connected to Republican judges and the Prosecutor’s office and from predominantly white Republican districts in the County, with very few in the pool from the larger city of Cincinnati, which is highly Democratic and composed of over 51% people of color.

The jury pool included a White male employee from the treasurer’s office, who lied during the jury selection process

and said that Judge Hunter hugged one of the Black jurors in the courtroom. When the juror and Judge Hunter’s

attorney requested to see court video, the judge decided to dismiss the black juror. The mother of one of the police officers from the community where the KKK threatened the children found herself on the jury, along with the best friend of Assistant Prosecutor Katie Pridemore, who was a key witness in the case. The jury also consisted of the neighbor of peer judge Republican Heather Russell; the best friends of Judge John Williams, who lost the election to Judge Hunter; and the best friend of now Judge Curt Kissinger, the former Court Administrator who refused to work for Judge Hunter while she was on the bench. Four other jurors said they believed she was guilty before the start of the trial, but presiding judge in the case, Norbert Nadel refused to remove them from the jury.

The egregiousness of Judge Hunter’s trial didn’t stop with the fixed jury in her case. During trial, evidence was

presented that one of Judge Hunter’s judicial rulings was illegally changed in the system and documents were backdated by Lisa Miller, one of the case managers at the command of her boss, Republican and now judge, Connie Murdock. Judge Hunter was denied evidence in the possession of Juvenile Court, in violation of the Brady Rule and Hunter’s appeals attorney found over 51 instances where the special prosecutors violated her right to a fair trial. She was also denied judicial immunity, which should have protected her from ever having to stand trial for any of these charges.

The judge in the case, Judge Norbert Nadel refused a motion for a retrial after he refused to poll the jury, in clear violation of the law and at the request of Hunter’s Attorney.  At the close of trial, that same day, two jurors came forward and said that their true verdict was not guilty, and if Nadel had polled the jury, they would have said so.  A third juror came forward two weeks later and admitted the same, adding that she was strongly pressured by the jury forewoman to convict Hunter, despite finding her innocent. Hunter was convicted on one of the 10 charges, which was appealed to the court where Prosecutor Deters’ Mother-in-law, Sylvia Hendon served as presiding judge. Judge Hendon simultaneously presided over Hunter’s cases as a visiting Judge in Juvenile Court, which taxpayer’s found to be a gross abuse of power and a conflict of interest.

While the Special Prosecutors sought to again bring the nine charges pursuant the mistrial, Judge Hunter’s attorneys discovered that Republican officials in the juvenile court destroyed computer evidence that could have exonerated Hunter. When Judge Hunter’s attorney’s brought this to the attention of the court, the Special Prosecutors dropped the nine remaining charges. The juvenile court destroyed the hard-drives on Judge Hunter’s computer as well as the Case Manager’s computer, who admitted to illegally backdating the documents in her case. Had those hard-drives been produced, it would have proven Hunter’s innocence in all of the charges that had been brought against her.

In August 2017, reporter James McNair broke a story with the headline, “For Prosecutor’s Office internships, political and family ties get you in the door”. His article contained an email showing that the Cincinnati Hamilton County Prosecutor, Joe Deters and son of Governor Mike Dewine and Ohio Supreme Court Justice, Pat Dewine had engaged in the same conduct for which they had falsely brought charges and convicted Judge Hunter. At the request of Justice Dewine, Deters hired Dewine’s two sons. State Senator, Cecil Thomas referred the case to the Republican dominated Ohio Supreme Court Disciplinary Committee, which ultimately chose not to bring charges against the pair.

Republican Judge, Patrick Dinkelacker, who killed Pamela Barnett a 60-year-old black grandmother, after swerving and crossing the double yellow centerline in December 2013, will execute Hunter’s sentence. He was never charged in the vehicular homicide, however the family brought a civil suit against him. It was never reported whether he was given a sobriety test. Despite the doctrine of impartiality, Dinkelacker weighed in on the federal courts proceedings against Judge Hunter. More importantly, Judge Dinkelacker, who formerly served on the court of appeals had ruled on many of Hunter’s juvenile court cases, and those cases were used as evidence against her at trial. Based on his clear conflict of interest, the rules of ethics required that he recuse himself from presiding over her trial. Multiple Ohio Supreme Court cases also dictated that a judge should not be allowed to preside over a peer judges case in the same county. Dinkelacker chose to remain on her case.

The Prosecutor’s Office and several Republican judges have participated in the political takedown of Judge Hunter. The denial of the right of blacks to serve as Common Pleas judges in Ohio has been pervasive and has led to the denial of fair trials, mistreatment, and mass incarceration for blacks, especially for black juveniles who are not entitled to legal representation in Ohio’s courts. The privatized juvenile justice system receives about $220,000 per year per child to incarcerate a juvenile. Over 92% of the incarcerated children were black during the time Hunter served. Having a fair system would significantly reduce the profit margins of privatized prison entities.

The Coalition for a Just Hamilton County, over twenty pastors from across the city of Cincinnati, and several community leaders hosted a prayer vigil on Thursday, May 30, 2019 for Judge Tracie Hunter. Clergy took turns praying for various aspects of the case, and surrounded Hunter in a show of strength and solidarity, offering prayer and promises to continue to stand with her in the days to come. Coalition members expressed that Hunter was subjected to a system, which has no checks or balances, subject only to the power of the dominant political authority, her accusers and political adversaries. They noted that charging her criminally effectively nullifie8d the votes of the nearly 120,000 voters that put her in office.

According to attorneys Lou Sirkin and Jennifer Branch’s arguments during court hearings in January 2016, Hunter was entitled to judicial immunity based on the nature of the claims against her, which stemmed from her rulings and administrative duties carried out in the course of her role as judge. Similarly, it would seem that Equal Protection statutes should have protected Hunter from being subjected to criminal charges and afforded her the same protections as Deters and Dewine.  Legal experts across the country agreed.

Pastor Damon Lynch III gave an impassioned speech stating that, “It is our hope that the charges will be dropped against this innocent pastor and judge, but as members of the clergy, I feel it is our duty to commit that if she goes to jail that she doesn’t go alone…every clergy member in this city and members of our congregations should be prepared to go with her.”

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For more information, contact:

The Coalition for a Just Hamilton County

ajusthamiltoncounty@gmail.com

513-657-0099

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Community Leaders and Clergy Hosts a Prayer Vigil for Judge Tracie Hunter

Cincinnati, OH- May 31, 2019— Over twenty pastors from across the city of Cincinnati, and several community leaders hosted a prayer vigil on Thursday, May 30, 2019 for Judge Tracie Hunter. The prayer vigil was planned the evening before, after US District Court Judge Timothy Black signed an order upholding the trial courts guilty verdict and lifting the stay of execution of sentencing for her five-year-old conviction. During the prayer vigil, Hunter got news that Black also denied a motion to reinstitute the stay pending her attorneys intent to appeal his decision.

Hunter’s case was before Judge Black on a petition for a writ of habeas corpus that was filed by her attorneys, who asserted that she was denied her fundamental US Constitutional right to a fair trial in the Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas. Judge Black’s decision stated that, “Generally speaking, the federal court must decide whether the state court was wrong to conclude that Hunter received the fair trial that every criminal defendant is entitled under the United States Constitution.”

The more pertinent question, raised by clergy and community leader members of the Coalition for a Just Hamilton County in their emergency meeting held late Wednesday night, was whether or not Judge Hunter should have been treated the same as every other criminal defendant, given her special status as a Common Pleas judge. When sentencing Hunter to a six month jail sentence for her non-violent charge, Judge Norbert Nadel made it clear that he was imposing a harsher sentence because of her status as a judge.

Under the Ohio and US Constitution, elected officials and judges are generally afforded special legal rights that should protect them from being treated the same as every criminal defendant. Ohio Supreme Court Justice, Pat Dewine and Prosecutor, Joe Deters was extended such preferential treatment after City Beat reporter James McNair broke the story on August 14, 2017, that Dewine had secured a job for his son Matt with the Prosecutor’s office.

The article included a copy of the April 23, 2017 email exchange between Dewine and Deters. Dewine wrote, “Joe, Can you find a spot in your internship program for my son, Matt this summer. I’ve attached his resume. He is a freshman at Miami. It would be a great experience for him. If you can, I would really appreciate it.” Deters forwarded that email to his Executive Assistant, Janet Roedel with the comment, “Another for sure”.

According to the City Beat article, Senator Cecil Thomas launched an independent investigation and inevitably referred Justice Dewine and Deters to the Ohio Supreme Court Disciplinary Counsel for sanctioning. Neither were held accountable for their actions. The statute that governs the inappropriateness of their actions was precisely the same statute that Hunter was charged under. Their conduct is specifically prohibited under this statute, whereas in Judge Hunter’s case there was no evidence or testimony that she violated any laws, or secured a public contract.

According to attorneys Lou Sirkin and Jennifer Branch’s arguments during court hearings in January 2016, Hunter was entitled to judicial immunity based on the nature of the claims against her, which stemmed from her rulings and administrative duties carried out in the course of her role as judge. Similarly, it would seem that Equal Protection statutes should have protected Hunter from being subjected to criminal charges and afforded her the same protections as Deters and Dewine.  Legal experts across the country agreed.

Coalition members expressed that Hunter was subjected to a system, which has no checks or balances, subject only to the power of the dominant political authority, her accusers and political adversaries. They noted that charging her criminally effectively nullified the votes of the nearly 120,000 voters that put her in office.

Community members and clergy in attendance on Wednesday evening organized and led Thursday’s prayer vigil. Clergy took turns praying for various aspects of the case, and surrounded Hunter in a show of strength and solidarity, offering prayer and promises to continue to stand with her in the days to come. Pastor Damon Lynch III gave an impassioned speech stating that, “It is our hope that the charges will be dropped against this innocent pastor and judge, but as members of the clergy, I feel it is our duty to commit that if she goes to jail that she doesn’t go alone…every clergy member in this city and members of our congregations should be prepared to go with her.”

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(771 words, incl. title)

Dr. Vanessa Enoch, Ph.D.

Herald Contributor

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The Justice Paradox: Abuse of Power and Selective Prosecution

Cincinnati, OH- December 10, 2014—Ghandi once said, “The True Measure of Any Society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members”.  This statement couldn’t be truer of the U.S. during this defining moment in history…a time where citizens across this country are mobilizing across racial and ethnic groups and across age and political persuasions to fight injustice.  Some argue that the issues we are currently witnessing as a nation are not about race, others argue that they are clearly about racial injustice and white privilege.  The one thing I believe we can all agree on is that we have a problem.  And, as I see it…the problem is abuse of power and selective prosecution. 

The entire nation has watched in horror as injustices directed at African-Americans have been carried out across this nation.  We have witnessed the killings of unarmed black men and boys at the hands of the police and vigilante citizens.  We have also witnessed police beatings of black women from college professors on their way home from work to homeless women crossing busy roads.  We have literally watched America become a war zone, reflective of the 1960’s racial unrest and Civil Rights Movement.

The arguments advanced by Prosecutors and Grand Juries in the police killings of two African American’s, 43 year old Eric Garner and 18 year old Michael Brown, was that they were doing something wrong and thereby subsequently contributed to their own deaths. Eric Garner, a father of six children, who was choked to death by police officers in Staten Island, New York in July of this year, was accused of selling single cigarettes from packs without tax stamps. Michael Brown, a college bound student who was shot by police officers in Ferguson, Missouri was later accused of stealing cigarillos.  Neither stealing nor selling cigarettes/ cigars carries the death penalty in the U.S., but both men were mercilessly executed.  Incidentally, the officer in the Brown case was not even aware that any crime had occurred when he executed the teen.  In both cases grand juries have made the decision not to indict the police officers that were responsible for the killings. 

The best examples of abuse of power and the racial implications can be found in Ohio, where two black males were gunned down by police officers for carrying toy guns in an open carry state.  One victim was Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old black child in Cleveland, Ohio, who was gunned down on November 22, 2014, while playing with a toy gun on a playground; the other was John Crawford, a young black male resident of Cincinnati, Ohio who was executed in a Walmart store in Beavercreek, Ohio.  Crawford was also carrying a toy gun, presumably with the intent to purchase it for his child.  Crawford was shot in cold blood, while still shopping in the department store.  Both incidents were caught on tape and in plain view for the world to see the killings of these innocent black males.  Yet, in the Crawford case the Grand Jury made the decision not to bring charges against the officer who shot him.  The case of the 12-year old is still pending investigation.

The most blatantly abusive of all of the recent cases is the case of Judge Tracie Marie Hunter, the first black and the first Democrat Judge, in Juvenile Court in Cincinnati, Ohio, who was recently publicly lynched in court and in the media, at the hands of the same rogue Prosecutors who chose not to prosecute John Crawford’s killer.  This lynching has been almost completely ignored by the national media, but the commonality between all of the aforementioned police shootings and the lynching of Judge Hunter is the abuse of prosecutorial power and selective prosecution.

Unlike the incidents of police killings, Judge Hunter’s life has been spared. However, her character has been assassinated, her good name has been ruined, and her career has been slaughtered!  Hunter awaits the December 29^th date that she is to surrender her freedom for an incarceration sentence of six-months, 1-year of probation, and fines and court costs for trumped up charges and crimes she clearly did not commit!

Prior to Judge Hunter being brought up on 9 frivolous criminal charges. Joe Deters, the Hamilton County prosecutor, and his Republican political cronies began a series of politically motivated attacks on Judge Hunter. These attacks began with the filing of an unprecedented 30 frivolous lawsuits commencing upon her taking her seat as Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge. During Hunter’s trial, witnesses testified that the Attorney’s were instructed to files lawsuits against Hunter and that the Ohio Supreme Court told the Prosecutor’s office “to keep an eye on her”.  These attacks were so pervasive that Judge Hunter found herself spending countless hours working late evenings to defend herself against countless frivolous lawsuits.  When she filed ethics charges against Deters, stating that, “Acting in his role as Hamilton County Prosecutor, he was “suing” her and “representing” her at the same time”.  This demonstrated a clear conflict of interest, and Deters was required by The Ohio Supreme Court to recuse himself.

Deters’ personal divorce attorneys, Croswell and Shriverdecker, were then appointed to prosecute Judge Hunter in the criminal proceedings.   These “Prosecutor” appointees subsequently refused to deliver any “discovery” documents that were requested by Hunter during her trial, despite the fact that she was legally entitled to the documents for her defense. Presiding and retiring Judge Norbert Nadel, and both Special Prosecutors were contributors to Deters political campaign for Prosecutor and have essentially operated as his proxies in this case. On two occasions before and during the trial, Judge Hunter was denied the right to have the trial moved to a different venue where she could get a fair trial.  Judge Nadel also refused to recuse himself, despite the fact that Nadel is Hunter’s judicial peer and the law precludes him from legally presiding over her trial.  

These charges were maliciously and vindictively brought against Judge Hunter by Prosecutor Joe Deters, in an attempt to nullify the votes of over 120,000 constituents and remove her from the bench. Hunter was accused of over nine crimes and only one stuck, and to get that one to stick, she was subjected to a biased and secretive grand jury process and a non-randomly selected jury, made up of friends, neighbors, spouses and legal representatives of her political foes.  Several jurors admitted at the start of the trial stated that they “couldn’t be fair and impartial”, however they were not removed from the jury. Hunter was also denied a jury of her peers as 6 black jurors in a row were dismissed. Judge Nadel dismissed many of them for cause, who appeared to be helping the Special Prosecutors in an effort to dismiss jurors for no arguable reason, other than the fact that they were black.

Nadel also refused to poll the jurors at the request of Hunter’s Attorney, after the verdict was read.  Three jurors came forward and signed affidavits to say that the “guilty verdict” was not their true and accurate verdict. One of the jurors signed an affidavit saying that she was pressured to vote guilty by the jury forewoman Kirkham. Judge Hunter’s motion’s for a new trial based on failure to poll the jury in open court and based on juror misconduct were both denied.  The community watched in horror as Judge Hunter suffered at the hands of a tainted jury and a corrupt presiding Judge, who caused Judge Hunter to be denied numerous constitutional rights, as well as her rights to a fair trial and due process. 

Prosecutor Joseph Deters’ mother-in-law, Judge Sylvia Hendon, and other political foes are Judges in the First District Court of Appeals of Hamilton County, and there has been a clear political bias against Judge Hunter at the Appellate Court and the Ohio Supreme Court, as evidenced by their mishandling of her formal complaints and denial of requests for legal assistance.  Prosecutor Joseph T. Deters and his cronies have openly and pompously demonstrated how the grand jury, the jury selection process, and the media can be used to nullify the votes of over 120,000 citizens who elected Hunter and placed her in office.

Perhaps all of us need to be questioning just how it is that a woman who was PROTECTING 30,000 of the most vulnerable children and families in our society, can be found guilty of crimes and given a jail sentence, fines, and court costs, while cops who are guilty of KILLING children and gunning down the innocent, can go free and not so much as even be charged for their crimes?  There is clearly a contradiction with our system of justice!  It appears that Hunter has become a victim of the political and racial crossfire in the American Injustice System.

While U.S. police forces, judicial authorities, and Prosecutor’s across the country have effectively waged war on domestic citizens and have imprisoned more black men today than were enslaved in 1850, it was announced December 5^th that The Chinese have just won the economic war, surpassing the U.S. output by .2 trillion dollars.  In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “In a real sense (in this case, real GDP) all life is inter-related.  All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.  Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly”.  United we stand! Divided we fall!  We have the opportunity in this defining moment to rewrite history and to redefine the America we want to be.  Now is when we get to choose to either be a nation of lawless rogues on our way to third world status, or to be a nation that lives out the true meaning of our creed, that “All men (and women) are created equal” and are entitled to equal protection under the law!  If we are going to prosper as a nation, mass incarceration cannot be our largest industry.

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(1688 words, incl. title)

Vanessa Enoch, Ph.D. student, Union Institute & University

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A Jurors right to be heard, preserving the integrity of the process

Cincinnati, OH- October 29, 2014— Juries are designed to give voice and power to ordinary citizens, through engagement in a democratic decision-making process.  This type of participation is the bedrock of our civil society. In order for this form of a deliberative democratic process to work, it is imperative that there are platforms for dissenting views to be expressed.  Oftentimes this platform is not possible in the confines of a jury room, because of differentials in power on a number of fronts.  Power differentials can take on many forms.  According to two white jurors who have spoken out on their experiences on the jury in the criminal trial of Judge Tracie M. Hunter, those power differentials came in the form of race and possibly even politics.

According to Defense Attorney, Clyde Bennett, black jurors attempted to decide on the case based on the facts that they heard during testimony. Alternatively, in a public statement made anonymously on the radio on October 20th, by one of the white jurors for the Hunter trial, when asked about the facts of the case, which enabled the jury to come to their decision, the juror said that the white jury members felt that “Hunters attorney did not prove that Hunter was not guilty”.

Given these statements by the juror, it is important to note that in the U.S. criminal justice system, a defendant is to be presumed innocent unless proven guilty. Additionally, the defense does not have the burden of proof.  Attorney Bennett repeatedly reminded the jury during jury selection and then again during closing arguments, that he and his client was not required to prove anything. Presiding Judge Nadel also reiterated the fact that the prosecution had the burden of proof during the course of the trial.

At the start of the Hunter trial, four potential jurors said that they’d already made up their minds about Hunter’s guilt, based on what they’d seen in the media.  Three of those jurors ended up on the final panel of jurors who were to determine Hunter’s fate.  The statements made by the anonymous juror calls into question, how much their preconceived notions played a part in determining Hunter’s guilt or innocence.  All things considered and heavily weighing this anonymous jurors statements and the reckless disregard of directives by Judge Nadel and Bennett, this calls into question concerns of redress for a juror who might have a differing opinion. In this case, the process of polling of the jury can certainly be seen as the opportunity to address the issue of redress.

Juries are supposed to promote a conception of reason over politics, whereby citizens should have the ability to participate on equal footing to determine the rightness of the application of law, after hearing and criticizing reasons.  Jury polling is necessary when the deliberation process breaks down.

The objective of a jury trial is to form a body of ones peers, which can decipher between varying ideologies to determine whether an act is criminal or not.  A forum must exist to mitigate differences in power and to provide for the protection of the minority opinion.  The drafters of the U.S. Constitution saw this right so fundamental to our rights as American citizens that the right to a jury trial was written into our constitution. The right to dissent is a right afforded to all citizens through the jury process of polling. Polling after the reading of a verdict provides a safe space for individuals to express their continual dissent without the pressure of jurors who don’t share their opinion.

This is what Attorney Bennett says happened in the Hunter trial.  The three jurors that had a dissenting opinion agreed that they would seek redress during open polling, after the verdict was read. Attorney Bennett asserts that the perception that he received surrounding black jurors explanations about why they felt a not guilty verdict was warranted in this case was predicated upon facts that they felt white jurors were not willing to consider.  Bennett further explained that black jurors felt pressured and even threatened in some respects to agree on the decisions of jurors who in their opinion wanted to convict, despite evidence that Hunter was not guilty of any of the crimes for which she was alleged to have committed.

Iris Marion Young, in her article entitled Communication and the Other: Beyond Deliberative Democracy says, that “in many formal situations the better-educated white middle-class people, often act as though they have a right to speak and that their words carry authority, whereas those of other groups often feel intimidated by the argument requirements and the formality and rules of parliamentary procedure, so they do not speak, or speak only in a way that those in charge find “disruptive”.  This dynamic often causes less privileged individuals to feel put down or frustrated. 

In the case of the two jurors that expressed disagreement in the form of affidavits in this case, they did not lack education, and decided that rather than continuing the process of heated deliberations, they would seek redress through the polling process.  However, in ignoring the rules of criminal procedure, Judge Nadel effectively eliminated their attempt at redress by not polling the jury in open court after the verdict was read. 

In the absence of any chance of agreement during jury deliberations, it would logically follow that only after the reading of the verdict aloud in open court would there seemingly be an opportune time for a juror to express their disagreement.  Prior to that point, the presiding judge has the option of sending jurors back to the deliberation room.  In situations where a juror may feel as though they aren’t being heard or even being bullied they may seek to avoid this form of badgering by agreeing to a verdict for the sake of averting the process of being continually subjected to high-pressure tactics of fellow jurors.

From public statements by the anonymous juror who served on the panel for Hunter trial, it has become obvious that the vote was divided among racial lines and that things were rather heated and confrontational in the jury room.  She admitted that she personally had a heated exchange with one of the black jurors.  Several Hunter supporters, who awaited the completion of jury deliberations in the hallway of the courthouse, say they personally witnessed a young black juror crying outside the jury room.

In an article detailing the significant problem of jury bullying, Diana Sholley, in the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin writes, “Bullies — of all ages — can be scary, intimidating, mean and down right dangerous, but there seems to be a place where it’s “OK” or at least tolerated: the jury room”. There are numerous stories reported of jury room bullying where jurors have admitted that after being bullied in the jury room, despite their difference of opinion, they voted guilty to avoid continued berating by fellow jurors. While conflict among deliberating juries is to be expected, these interactions are still unpleasant, and there is a clear line between conflict and bullying. In 2012, a federal judge in Nashville, Tennessee dismissed a jury foreman when incidents of bullying were reported.

Although jury badgering is commonplace, for two jurors to feel so passionate that they would want to come forward and even sign affidavits to say that the decision to convict was not their true decision, and that they both planned to seek redress through polling is evidentiary enough that the court erred significantly in not polling this particular jury.

Protecting the right to jury polling is fundamental to American democracy, and in ensuring that innocent people don’t go to jail based upon power differentials.  Trial by jury represents a dream of an equal society. The members of our jury could easily be arranged along vertical axes of power relative to the educated versus the uneducated, male versus female, Democrat versus Republican. As jurors, these hierarchies must be leveled. The unanimity requirement means that a single dissent can destroy a verdict. It demands that no voice be glossed over, since every juror holds a final stake in the decision. This decision marks a moment when our vertically arranged society can become – if only for a moment – horizontal. Jurors must feel safe that their opinions are going to matter. The integrity of the process must be protected for all jurors.  This is why Judge Nadel should rightfully grant a new trial based on juror dissent in the Hunter case.

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Vanessa Enoch, Ph.D. Student

Union Institute & University

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Prosecution rests and defense drops bombshell in Judge Tracie Hunter case

Cincinnati, OH- September 28, 2014—After two and a half weeks of testimony by only a few witnesses, the prosecution has rested its case in the trial of Judge Tracie M. Hunter.  The trial has had the grandeur of a murder trial and a plot akin to a poorly constructed Perry Mason episode or a 2014 remake of Much Ado About Nothing. 

Despite the pomp and circumstance, each of the nine felony charges against the first term judge have unraveled and the prosecution’s case has gone down the drain, along with Hamilton County taxpayers’ money. When asked about the likely cost of the case during pretrial hearings, the prosecutor’s office admitted that they had not yet negotiated a fee. It appears that prosecutor Joe Deters, handed special prosecutors Merlyn Shiverdecker and Scott Crosswell, III a blank check to bring frivolous charges against Hunter.

Defense attorney Clyde Bennett, II, who used the prosecutor’s own witnesses to skillfully dismantle the prosecution’s case, said that the charges amounted to “a personal vendetta and prosecutorial vindictiveness” towards a judge who refused to “give up her seat”.  Assistant prosecutor James T. Harper admitted that he and Joe Deters were upset when Hunter filed grievances against them with the Ohio Supreme Court. “It is the worst thing that can happen to an attorney”, Harper stated.  But, the biggest bombshell in this case comes as defense attorney Clyde Bennett put his first witness on the stand, Hunter’s case manager, Lisa Miller.

Miller testified that case management supervisor Connie Murdock, gave her directives to change the language of one of Hunter’s rulings in the courts computer system.  This is particularly disturbing, as Miller also admitted that Hunter’s ruling in the Q.O. case, one of two cases for which Hunter has been charged, is different in the court’s case management system than Judge Hunter’ s ruling in the case. For this to occur, a different judicial entry would have to have been created by someone other than Hunter, and her signature forged on that document and entered in the system; as it defies logic that Hunter would sign an entry that opposes her actual decision. Miller acknowledged that she created the entry that appears in the system, but said she did not know why the journal query which is an exact match of the judicial entry are different.   Modifying a judge’s decision could constitute a serious criminal offense.

According to Proware software executive, it was Miller’s login that was used to backdate court entries in both the A.C. and Q.O. cases, not Hunter’s. Miller testified to the same. Prosecutor Scott Crosswell became unglued and stood up and began yelling at judge Norbert Nadel, when presiding judge Nadel allowed Miller to read a note from Murdock instructing her to change Judge Hunter’s language in the system.

Crosswell indicated that the accusation that Hunter backdated court documents was the most egregious of all of the offenses of which Hunter was charged. During pre-trial hearings special prosecutor Crosswell said that if Bennett could show him “one incident where anyone else backdated documents, I will prosecute them as well”.  Attorney Bennett suggested that not only did Hunter not backdate the two entries in the D.M. and A.C. cases, but those who did might have done it to cover up a greater offense.

Katherine Pridemore, the prosecutions star witness and also an employee of the prosecutor’s office, demonstrated the strength of Bennett’s claim that the prosecutor’s office wanted Hunter off the bench by any means necessary. Pridemore became unraveled as she railed against Hunter, pointing her finger at Hunter and gnashing her teeth, “I lived and breathed your client.  Everyone in the prosecutors office knew that she stepped all over the law!” Under oath, Pridemore testified that the Ohio Supreme Court assigned her to investigate Hunter. In an email we received on Friday, John VanNorman of the Ohio Supreme Court denies that they ever conducted an investigation of Judge Hunter.

Pridemore also alleged that Hunter backdated the entries in an attempt to prevent prosecutor Joe Deters’ office from overruling her decision in the D.M. and the A.C. cases.  But, now that it is clear that Hunter did not backdate the documents and one of Hunter’s significant rulings were in fact deleted from the system, the lingering question is why was the prosecutor’s office so concerned with insuring that these particular decisions got overturned?

Anxious to appeal Hunter’s decisions in both cases, Prosecutor Deters office appealed Hunter’s rulings before they became final appealable orders. At issue in both the D.M. and A.C. cases is a child’s constitutional right to discovery evidence, prior to a bindover probable case hearing.  Hunter ordered the defense attorney to provide these forms for in-camera inspection to protect the rights of accused children, however the prosecutor’s office refused to turn over the discovery, which included the full Arrest and Investigation Report (Form 527), and the Incident Report (Form 301).

In the D.M. case, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld Hunter’s ruling that all discovery evidence must be turned over and an in-camera inspection may be conducted if prosecutors believe any information in the reports would need to be redacted.  The ruling affirming Hunter’s decision to turn over police reports is now law in all courts across Ohio.

While it appears that these charges were maliciously and vindictively brought against Hunter, it is important to note that the D.M. and A.C. cases may also be a cause for sore blood.  These cases changed Ohio law and forces prosecutors to provide information to defense that enables a child to better defend themselves.

The accusation that Hunter committed crimes may have been the perfect smoke screen to distract the public from learning of the real crimes committed by others in Juvenile Court who backdated judicial entries and changed Hunter’s judicial rulings. During Hunter’s time on the bench, she uncovered and began correcting many improprieties within the Juvenile Court. She was dedicated to rehabilitating children. Removing Hunter from the bench allowed the Juvenile Court and prosecutor’s office to cover up what Hunter exposed.

Bishop Bobby Hilton is calling for a massive protest rally and press conference on Hamilton County courthouse steps at noon on Monday, September 29th.  Prosecutor Joe Deters office handled the Hunter case and also acted as special prosecutors in handling the grand jury proceedings in the homicide of John Crawford, who was gunned down by the officer while he was holding a toy gun he intended to purchase at the Walmart store in Beavercreak, Ohio.

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(1121 words, incl. title)

Vanessa Enoch, Ph.D. student, Union Institute & University

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