Prosecutors: Tracie Hunter should be jailed
Suspended Judge Tracie Hunter should go to jail, special prosecutors said in a Friday court filing, to keep her word.
As a Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge, she often said she would do anything, including serve time behind bars, to help those whose cases came before her.
“Over the past two years,” special prosecutors R. Scott Croswell III and Merlyn Shiverdecker wrote in the filing, “Tracie Hunter has loudly and proudly proclaimed that she was willing to go to jail ‘for the children.’ Although she has apparently had a change of heart, it is indeed time for her to serve the sentence imposed.”
Hunter, 48, was convicted in October of using her position as a Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge to interfere with the firing of her brother, juvenile court worker Stephen Hunter, after he punched a teen inmate in the face.
The prosecutors’ Friday filing attacks Hunter’s history before, during and after the trial as evidence that she should serve the six-month jail sentence ordered by Judge Norbert Nadel like any other criminal.
“Tracie Hunter has a long history of ignoring authority and repeatedly, over the course of her tenure as Judge of the Juvenile Court, ignored and otherwise failed to follow and obey the orders of superior courts,” prosecutors wrote.
Hunter was found in contempt by the appeals court for ignoring its order to allow Enquirer reporters into the public courtroom over which she presided. She has also been criticized by the Ohio Supreme Court.
“During the course of her trial, she conducted herself in a manner that showed not only an arrogant attitude, but also contempt for our system of justice,” the filing noted. “She arrived late for court on a daily basis, was surrounded by ‘bodyguards,’ commandeered elevators, interrupted the trial judge and otherwise displayed an attitude of utter contempt for our system of justice.”
The filing came in response to a Monday filing by Hunter’s attorney asking that she be allowed to remain free while she appeals her felony conviction and sentence. “The question of whether a stay will be granted is in the Court of Appeals' hands now. We believe we have made a strong case for a stay and hope that the Court does the right thing,” her attorney, David Singleton, said Friday.
Unless the appeals court grants Hunter’s requested stay of the execution of her sentence, she will report Dec. 29 to begin serving the jail term.
She also could face additional charges. While she was convicted of a felony at her trial, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on eight other felony charges. She could face a re-trial on those. As a convicted felon, she also could face disciplinary charges from the Ohio Supreme Court that could result in the loss of her law license.