Henry County judge cannot enforce his order preventing journalists from reporting.
Article published January 29, 2010
Ohio’s top court bars gag order for now
Ruling temporary until further review
By JIM PROVANCE
and JENNIFER FEEHAN
BLADE STAFF WRITER
COLUMBUS – A Henry County judge cannot enforce his order preventing journalists from promptly reporting on an involuntary manslaughter trial – at least for now. The Ohio Supreme Court yesterday sided with The Blade and temporarily placed on hold Common Pleas Court Judge Keith P. Muehlfeld’s gag order until the state’s highest court can fully review the matter. The 6-1 decision, which did not come with a written opinion, says nothing about whether Judge Muehlfeld should proceed with Monday’s scheduled retrial of Jayme Schwenkmeyer, 24. She faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the 2007 drug overdose death of her 13-month-old daughter, Kamryn Gerken. The Blade had characterized Judge Muehlfeld’s gag order as “patently unconstitutional” prior restraint of the First Amendment rights of free speech and press. “The Blade is pleased that the Supreme Court promptly suspended the trial court’s prior restraint, so that The Blade and all other media can report freely on the trial and the public can learn about it. And The Blade looks forward to briefing the matter fully for the Supreme Court to demon-strate further the unconstitutionality of the order,” Fritz Byers, the newspaper’s attorney, said. The high court has set up a schedule for both sides to file evidence and briefs in the case, a schedule that could delay a final ruling by up to 50 days.Justice Maureen O’Connor cast the dissenting vote. She indicated that she would have made a final ruling for The Blade now.
Judge Muehlfeld issued the gag order in December and then reaffirmed it this week for Ms. Schwenkmeyer’s retrial. Jury selection for the separate trial of a second defendant, David E. Knepley, 50, on similar charges is expected to begin a week later. Judge Muehlfeld’s order would not have prevented reporters from attending the first trial, but it would have prohibited them from publishing or broadcasting what they saw or heard until after a jury was seated in Mr. Knepley’s case. Mr. Knepley’s attorney had argued that the order was necessary to prevent publicity associated with the first trial from tainting the jury pool in the second. The decision was issued late yesterday afternoon. Judge Muehl-
feld could not be reached for comment after the ruling, but earlier in the day he declined to comment on the newspaper’s action. The American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio applauded the decision. The organization said there was a good chance it may seek to intervene in the case as it proceeds. “We’re all about civil liberties and constitutional rights, and we recognize that the press and the public have free speech rights under the First Amendment, but we also believe the defendants have rights under the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth amendments to receive a fair trial,” staff counsel Carrie Davis said. “The reason it’s important to have this freedom of the press in the courtroom is all about transparency,” she said. “It’s the public’s right to know what’s happening in their government, including the courts.” Ms. Davis said challenging the judge’s unusual gag order is important, not just for journalists, but for members of the public who may attend court proceedings and blog about what they observe. “If it was allowed to stand, it creates this horrible precedent that anytime anyone even raises a concern about a trial or whatever proceeding, they would prohibit the press or the public for that matter from reporting on it,” she said. “It really affects a lot of us.” Contact Jim Provance at:
jprovance@theblade.com,
or 614-221-0496.
LCRP Attorney: BOE should have never certified Simpson
TOLEDO, OH (WTOL) – The attorney for Jon Stainbrook, who claims to remain the leader of the Lucas County GOP, says the Board of Elections should have never certified both candidates.
Jeff Simpson says he took control of the party fairly during a meeting in December. Stainbrook claims he is still in charge of the GOP.
An attorney for representing Stainbrook is asking Judge Charles Doneghy to rule that the Board of Elections improperly certified and forwarded the list of committees submitted by the Simpson faction to the Ohio Republican Party.
“Not only was their initial attempt to overthrow invalid, but their subsequent filings with the Board of Elections that have been certified down to the State Central Committee were incomplete,” said Scott Ciolek, attorney for Jon Stainbrook.
The Simpson faction is arguing they followed the process, and the matter shouldn’t be argued in court. “That process says the State Central Committee should make the decision regarding Mr. Simpson and Mr. Stainbrook. At the end of the day, we should be in Columbus with this dispute, not sitting before these courts, said Kent Murphree, attorney for Jeff Simpson.
While a ruling is still pending from the judge, the Stainbrook faction say they are worried the case has the potential to set the stage for future “political coups.”
It’s possible the argument will head to the District Court of Appeals if nothing is decided in Lucas County Common Pleas court.
Watch Video Here.
http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=11897176
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: Common Pleas Court, LRCP, Lucas County Republican Party, Stainbrook
First Maumee Authority Stamping Lawsuit Filed in Michighan. (MAS)
Click Here to view the Complaint
Information:
TEC International, LLC v. Maumee Authority Stamping, Inc. et al
Plaintiff: TEC International, LLC
Defendant: Maumee Authority Stamping, Inc., Stanley Chlebowski and Maumee Assembly and Stamping, LLC
Case Number: 2:2009cv14474
Filed: November 16, 2009
Court: Michigan Eastern District Court
Office: Detroit Office [ Court Info ]
County: Wayne
Presiding Judge: Duggan
Referring Judge: Scheer
Nature of Suit: Other Statutes – Other Contract
Cause: 28:1442 Petition for Removal- Breach of Contract
Jurisdiction: Diversity
Jury Demanded By: None
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: Keith Obey, Maumee Assembly and Stamping, Maumee Authoity Stamping
Investors in Former Ford Plant Hire Lawyer
Investors in former Ford plant hire lawyer
Group questions how their cash was spent
By LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE, TOLEDO BLADE BUSINESS WRITER
Permanent Link
Investors in the failed bid to restart Ford Motor Corp.’s former Maumee Stamping Plant are trying to find out what happened to their money. Meanwhile, a handful of people have begun to do what hadn’t been done at the plant since it closed in October, 2007: making auto parts.
Toledo attorney Scott Ciolek represents some of the dozens who invested at least $16,000 to purchase shares in Maumee Authority Stamping Inc. Mr. Ciolek said yesterday that his clients may have been misled into investing in the company and that he has written the founder, Keith Obey, seeking a list of those who own the stock, which he said is now worthless. “There are so many inconsistencies with the letters I’ve seen and the documents I’ve seen. I have no idea what they bought with that money,” Mr. Ciolek said. Maumee Authority Stamping was evicted from the 800,000-square-foot facility at 920 Illinois Ave. on May 27 for, among other things, allegedly failing to pay more than $300,000 in outstanding utility bills.
At the time, attorney David Zoll, who represents the undisclosed owner of the building, said his client planned to continue efforts to restart the plant making a small number of “spin-form” catalytic converters for Ford’s parts division.
Steven Gutowitz, an investor in the company, said “a handful” of people are working in the plant now, making the replacement auto parts, while he and other investors are left wondering what became of their money. “We aren’t as much interested in getting our $16,000 back, although quite a few of my friends are filing bankruptcy,” said Mr. Gutowitz. He invested in the company after working at the plant under Ford for 31 years.
“We want to know: Where did all the money go?” Mr. Zoll said yesterday that the “only asset” of Maumee Authority Stamping was the spin-form line it purchased from a Monroe company, a line he said has an auction value of $8,000 but has plenty of lien claims on it. Mr. Obey said yesterday the start-up company lacks a facility.
“This is a real tightrope, with not having a facility and still needing to get some people back to work and generate some revenue for these investors,” he said. “The first and most important thing is to make sure that these owner/investors are handled properly. That’s all we’ve been doing is searching for a way to make the investors whole.”
Contact Larry P. Vellequette at:
lvellequette@theblade.com
or 419-724-6091.
Permanent Link
Lucas County Deputies Charged With Assault
FROM OHIO NEWS NETWORK TV:
TOLEDO, Ohio — Video of the Lucas County Jail shows Mike Mingione being brought in in handcuffs.
His lawyer, Scott Ciolek, said police arrested Mingione for missing a court date for a non-violent offense. He also said his client had heart surgery just days before his arrest.
“He attempted to explain his situation to the Sheriffs Department that was booking him, and they were not listening to him,” said Scott A. Ciolek, Esq.
In the tape, deputies can be heard berating Mingione and ignoring his requests for medication. The deputies are not being named right now.
The deputies are seen repeatedly slamming Mingione’s head on a desk.
“During the altercation, during the beat down, he had his shoulder separated and had numerous contusions on his face,” said Ciolek.
The investigation is ongoing. Two officials with the Lucas County Sheriff’s Office who spoke to ONN’s Stephanie Mennecke said it’s best not to comment right now.
The tape is under review and those deputies in question are expected to be identified as defendants. The charges–assault and violation of civil rights– may be the first of more to come. Mingione claims he was taken into a separate room afterwards and was kicked for another ten minutes.
“There are a lot of good reasons that people don’t want to take a case like this, but this is what I do, sometimes you have to take the unpopular cases,” said Ciolek.
Assault Suspect Released – Man charged in road rage incident will return to Tennessee
Assault suspect released
Man charged in road rage incident will return to Tennessee
By MEGHAN GILBERT
BLADE STAFF WRITER
The man charged with assaulting former radio personality Troy Neff during a road rage incident was released from jail yesterday and planned to head back to Tennessee until his next court hearing. During a brief appearance in Perrysburg Municipal Court yesterday morning, Jeffrey Hardeman, 42, of Knoxville, Tenn., waived a preliminary hearing and his bond was changed from $75,000 to his own recognizance.
“He’s going to go home with his family today and try to recover from all this,” his attorney, Scott Ciolek, said after the hearing. Mr. Hardeman is charged with felonious assault and tampering with evidence and his case will be bound over to the Wood County grand jury. William Connelly, Jr., a Wood County assistant prosecutor, said the earliest it would present the case would be Jan. 21. The grand jury meets the first and third Wednesday of the month in Wood County. A stipulation was added to Mr. Hardeman’s bond that he not stay in Perrysburg hotels as he travels for his work as a quality control engineer with the glass industry, as they are close toMr. Neff’s financial business, Advanced Retirement Solutions, and where the road rage incident occurred.
The fight, in which Mr. Neff suffered stab wounds to his left shoulder, arm, and hand, happened about 6:15 p.m. Dec. 10 on Holiday Lane in Perrysburg Township.
Since then, the Troy Neff Show on WCWA-AM (1230) was canceled, which Mr. Neff said is because of his noncompliance with the Take Back Toledo campaign. And recently his column was pulled from the Toledo Free Press because he submitted the texts of columns from PPC Inc., which he subscribes to, as his columns for the paper. Mr. Neff admitted doing so and said that when he uses material from PPC in his own newsletter, he adds a disclaimer about the origin of the content. “I’m not a journalist, never held myself out to be, but common sense is I should have mentioned it to [Editor-in-chief] Michael [Miller], and we should have put a disclaimer on it,” he said. Mr. Neff spoke with the media about what happened the day after the road rage incident, but Mr. Hardeman has been in jail since that time and hasn’t shared his side.
His attorney, Scott Ciolek, spoke for him yesterday, saying their stories mostly match up except for who hit whom first. Mr. Neff says that Mr. Hardeman pushed him first and then he tackled Mr. Hardeman in retaliation. Mr. Hardeman contends that Mr. Neff ran at him and tackled him first. Mr. Ciolek said his client is a gentle man with no prior criminal record and used the knife in self defense. Mr. Hardeman traveled to the area to work with GlassTech in Perrysburg and wasn’t familiar with the area when he inadvertently cut off Mr. Neff on Holiday Lane. That was followed by the exchange of words, the men getting out of their vehicles, and the fight.
Mr. Ciolek said his client admits he used the knife in the altercation, but they refute the tampering with evidence claims. According to Mr. Ciolek, Mr. Neff tackled his client so hard that he “defecated himself” and so he threw away his soiled clothing and changed to go to the hospital to get his hand stitched up that was cut during the fight. His other bloody clothing was still in his car, Mr. Ciolek said. And Mr. Hardeman didn’t try to wipe the knife clean, as is alleged, but it might have gotten that way when he cut up a shirt to wrap his bleeding hand, Mr. Ciolek said.
In an e-mail, Mr. Hardeman’s sister Susan Hardeman White, said her brother is a kind and gentle man, and that it must have been self defense for him to take out that knife. “Jeff is a kindhearted person that does not have a violent bone in his body,” she said.
Contact Meghan Gilbert at:
mgilbert@theblade.com
or 419-724-6134.
Permanent Link
Ex-radio Host Facing April 29 Jury Trial for Assault Charge
FROM THE TOLEDO BLADE:
Ex-radio host facing April 29 jury trial for assault charge.
A trial date has been set for a former radio host who was involved in a December road-rage incident. Troy Neff, 40, of Curtice is charged with assault, a first-degree misdemeanor, for the fight in which he was stabbed by a Tennessee man. A jury trial was set for April 29 after a plea agreement could not be reached Thursday between Mr. Neff’s attorney, Drew Griffith, and William Connelly, Jr., a Wood County assistant prosecutor. Jeffrey Hardeman, 42, of Knoxville, Tenn., the other man involved in the fight and accused of stabbing Mr. Neff, was charged with felonious assault and tampering with evidence for the incident. Those felony charges have been dropped as his attorney, Scott Ciolek, works with the prosecutor’s office on a plea agreement. Mr. Neff was stabbed in the shoulder, arm, and hand Dec. 10, after Mr. Hardeman apparently cut off Mr. Neff and it led to the men exchanging words, getting out of their vehicles, and fighting.It occurred in Perrysburg Township near Mr. Neff’s financial business, Advanced Retirement Solutions.
Since then, Mr. Neff’s radio show, the Troy Neff Show on WCWA-AM, was taken off the air and his column in the Toledo Free Press was canceled.
Permanent Link
In: Uncategorized · Tagged with: Stabbing, Troy Neff, WSPD
GOP Chief Admits Felony Record
GOP chief admits felony record
Wack had larceny conviction
By TOM TROY
TOLEDO BLADE POLITICS WRITER
The executive director of the Lucas County Republican Party yesterday admitted to having a felony conviction on her record – after first denying it while under oath. Joanne Wack, on the stand in Lucas County Common Pleas Court in a hearing over the party’s fractured central committee election process, first answered “no” to the question of whether she had ever been convicted of a felony, in Ohio or any other state. The hearing was abruptly recessed when Lucas County Common Pleas Judge J. Ronald Bowman was shown information to the contrary. After a meeting with the lawyers in the judge’s office, Wack returned to the stand a short time later and answered “yes” to the same question. Asked by attorney Dennis Strong for an explanation of her “lying” in her earlier testimony, she answered, “It’s an embarrassing part of my past. I don’t see any bearing on what we’re discussing here today.” Details of Wack’s felony conviction were sketchy yesterday.Information uncovered over the weekend by Kelly Bensman, an assistant to Republican activist Jon Stainbrook, and then confirmed by the Lucas County Prosecutor’s Office, showed that Wack, then named Joanne Letavish, was convicted in 1994 of grand larceny and violation of probation stemming from a charge filed in 1989 in Westchester County, New York.
In a Oct. 5, 1994, affidavit, “Joanne Letavish” acknowledged a judgment of $6,462.25 as the result of a plea arrangement, and her failure to pay $20 a week. A document one week later indicated she had been convicted of violation of probation and grand larceny and that a violation of probation charge was dismissed. Wack was living in Toledo at the time. Several lawyers in the case said she would probably not be charged with perjury because the court record was corrected. Scott Ciolek, an attorney for Mr. Stainbrook – who is mounting an effort to take over control of the county Republican Party – asked the question in court yesterday about Wack’s felony conviction. He said he would not pursue prosecution because his clients’ interests would not be served by it. Mr. Ciolek said he brought up Wack’s conviction because he wanted to impugn her credibility. A sworn affidavit by Wack was used to justify the April 11 temporary restraining order that removed 27 of Mr. Stainbrook’s supporters, who recently won election to the Republican Central Committee, from serving on the committee.
It was unclear last night whether Wack would face any punishment from her employer, the Lucas County Republican Party. Party Chairman Bob Reichert said he did not plan to fire her. He said the information about her past felony conviction was irrelevant to the case at hand. “As chair of the Republican Party, I’m not concerned what one of my employees did 20 years ago when we’re talking about a case that basically is not involved with that at all,” Mr Reichert said. “It’s irrelevant to the issue and basically to anything else that’s going on.”
Contact Tom Troy at:
tomtroy@theblade.com
or 419-724-6058.
Click Here for Full Story.
BOE Approves Take Back Toledo Effort
FROM 13 ABC NEWS TOLEDO:
The effort to recall Toledo’s mayor gets the green light from the Lucas County Board of Elections. Board members decided Take Back Toledo collected enough valid signatures and followed the appropriate guidelines. They held public meetings and collected more than 45,000 signatures. Today the Board of Elections decided they did it the right way.
“The Take Back Toledo effort is very happy with the decision made today. It will be put on the November ballot and they certified all of the arguments we made,” says Take Back Toledo attorney Scott Ciolek.
Argument number one – centers around an election falsification statement. The Ohio revised code requires a statement to be put on all petitions, the Toledo City Charter doesn’t. The board decided in this case the charter supersedes the revised code.
Argument number two – whether or not the petition circulators themselves have to be registered voters in the county. The board said no.
Lucas County Board of Elections chairman Patrick Kriner says, “Those two things together basically put us in the position to deny the protest because the signatures in either case would not have overturned the petitions.”
But Carty’s attorneys say no.
The mayor’s attorney John Kulewicz says, “We are disappointed the board has not held Take Back Toledo to the same standard that applies to everybody else. We hope three wrongs ultimately won’t make a right.”
Finkbeiner’s attorneys say they’re considering appealing the ruling in court. The attorney for Take Back Toledo says if the mayor appeals the ruling in court, it’s possible the election results will be sealed until there is a court ruling.
Investors in Former Ford Plant Hire Lawyer
Investors in former Ford plant hire lawyer
Group questions how their cash was spent
By LARRY P. VELLEQUETTE
BLADE BUSINESS WRITER
Investors in the failed bid to restart Ford Motor Corp.’s former Maumee Stamping Plant are trying to find out what happened to their money. Meanwhile, a handful of people have begun to do what hadn’t been done at the plant since it closed in October, 2007: making auto parts. Toledo attorney Scott Ciolek represents some of the dozens who invested at least $16,000 to purchase shares in Maumee Authority Stamping Inc. Mr. Ciolek said yesterday that his clients may have been misled into investing in the company and that he has written the founder, Keith Obey, seeking a list of those who own the stock, which he said is now worthless. “There are so many inconsistencies with the letters I’ve seen and the documents I’ve seen. I have no idea what they bought with that money,” Mr. Ciolek said. Maumee Authority Stamping was evicted from the 800,000-square-foot facility at 920 Illinois Ave. on May 27 for, among other things, allegedly failing to pay more than $300,000 in outstanding utility bills.At the time, attorney David Zoll, who represents the undisclosed owner of the building, said his client planned to continue efforts to restart the plant making a small number of “spin-form” catalytic converters for Ford’s parts division.
Steven Gutowitz, an investor in the company, said “a handful” of people are working in the plant now, making the replacement auto parts, while he and other investors are left wondering what became of their money. “We aren’t as much interested in getting our $16,000 back, although quite a few of my friends are filing bankruptcy,” said Mr. Gutowitz. He invested in the company after working at the plant under Ford for 31 years. “We want to know: Where did all the money go?”
Mr. Zoll said yesterday that the “only asset” of Maumee Authority Stamping was the spin-form line it purchased from a Monroe company, a line he said has an auction value of $8,000 but has plenty of lien claims on it. Mr. Obey said yesterday the start-up company lacks a facility. “This is a real tightrope, with not having a facility and still needing to get some people back to work and generate some revenue for these investors,” he said. “The first and most important thing is to make sure that these owner/investors are handled properly. That’s all we’ve been doing is searching for a way to make the investors whole.”
Contact Larry P. Vellequette at:
lvellequette@theblade.com
or 419-724-6091.