Judge Tracie Hunter goes to trial

Tracie Hunter's attorney believes he can win the indicted Juvenile Court judge's criminal case before the first witness is called.

Clyde Bennett II, Hunter's attorney, contends the jury chosen to hear the nine criminal charges against the controversial judge will be "the most important part" of the four-to-six-week trial.

Hunter "has the presumption of innocence," Bennett said. "We have no burden of proof. We don't have to prove anything."

Special Prosecutors Merlyn Shiverdecker and R. Scott Croswell III, as they have done since Hunter's indictment, declined to comment.

Based, though, on what they have said in their court filings and the hearings leading up to Hunter's Monday trial, the special prosecutors seem confident with the provability of their case.

The trial will be a culmination of sorts after Hunter's volatile, controversial election and judgeship. Since 2010, she has sued the Board of Election and won, reversing the election that initially rendered her challenger the winner. She's argued with or been sued by The Enquirer and other media, the Hamilton County's Public Defender's Office, the Hamilton County Prosecutor's Office and other defense attorneys. She fought back, insisting she was doing what she believes was best for the children. Her supporters remain undeterred, saying she is being singled out by others afraid of her often-unpopular decisions.

Hunter, who has repeatedly declined to talk to The Enquirer, is accused of misuse of credit cards and two counts each of tampering with evidence, forgery, theft in office and having unlawful interest in public contracts, charges that carry a maximum prison sentence of 13 years.

"The charges are politically motivated and evidentiarilyunfounded," Bennett said. "The allegations against Hunter fly in the face of common sense."

Hunter's witness list includes Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor; Appeals Court Judge Sylvia Hendon, who took over Hunter's Juvenile Court docket after her January indictment and Supreme Court suspension; Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune and many Juvenile Court employees.

The most important witnesses for prosecutors likely will be Curt Kissinger, the Juvenile Court administrator, and Karen Oakley Everson, Hunter's staff attorney when she was a sitting judge. Also on prosecutors' witness list are attorneys who have represented Hunter in the past. Hunter has been sued several times by the media, including The Enquirer, over access to the public courtroom over which she presided and public documents.

Prosecutors also have subpoenaed as witnesses Hunter's brother, Steven, who is connected to two of the criminal allegations against her; Public Defender Ray Faller, whose office sued Hunter 20 times, saying her delay in resolving cases was preventing adoptions and long-term foster care placement of children; and Deters, whose office had civil attorneys representing Hunter when she was sued as a judge. After Hunter filed with Ohio's Supreme Court complaints against Deters and several attorneys in his office, Deters asked that special prosecutors be appointed in her criminal case.

Deters further irked Hunter supporters last week by suggesting Hunter played a role in the death of two this month by refusing to send one of the men to juvenile prison. Days later, the juvenile shot and killed another man before being shot and killed himself. Her supporters questioned the timing of Deters' announcement, suggesting it was an attempt to influence the jury pool that will decide Hunter's fate.

The case is being presided over by Common Pleas Court Judge Norbert Nadel who is retiring at the end of this year. He has been deferential to Hunter, despite the spoken concerns by Croswell, by letting her wait in the jury room until her hearings start and by letting her self-appointed security guards sit next to her in court.

That won't happen in the trial. The jury room will be filled by jurors. Hunter's "security team" – two to five men, most members of the Westwood church where she is a pastor – will have to sit in the audience.

Nadel will call 60 potential jurors for Hunter's trial, a group to be winnowed to 12 jurors and six alternates. Usually, judges call 24 to form a jury pool but the high visibility of Hunter's case and her claim that she can't get a fair trial in Hamilton County caused Nadel to ask for more jurors.

Nadel has repeatedly said he won't consider Hunter's request to move the trial to another county until it's proven an impartial Hamilton County jury can't be seated.

An issue Nadel will have to deal with before jury selection is Hunter's announcement that she will act as co-counsel in her own case. The special prosecutors filed a motion asking Nadel to forbid that because Ohio law doesn't allow it. They note Hunter can either have an attorney as she does now or act as her own attorney, but not both.

Nadel must rule on that before Monday's jury selection begins.

Allegations against Hunter

Indicted Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Tracie Hunter is accused of nine felonies that can be lumped into three categories:

• Tampering with evidence and forgery: The "backdating" allegation. Hunter is accused of creating documents after the fact, but manipulating them in the computer system to make them appear as if they were filed earlier than they were. The result is prosecutors were prevented from appealing those rulings by Hunter. The alleged impact is she took sides in cases before her. She also is accused of signing the documents knowing they were incorrectly dated;

• Theft in Office: She is accused of using a county-issued credit card to pay for filings she made in court in cases where she had been sued;

• Unlawful Interest in a Public Contract: She is accused of helping her brother, then-Juvenile Court employee Steven Hunter, get overtime or pay when he was supposed to be off of work and then interfered when her brother was fired for punching a juvenile inmate.

Tracie Hunter chronology

Since the 2010 election, Tracie Hunter has been embroiled in controversy:

• February 2010: Hunter files to run as a Democrat for Hamilton County Juvenile Court;

• May 2010: Hunter defeats Democrat-endorsed candidate Dan Donnellon by 10,000 votes to win the Democratic primary;

• November 2010: Republican John Williams defeats Hunter by 23 votes to win the juvenile judge race. Days later, Hunter sues, saying some ballots weren't counted;

• November 2011: With the 2010 election still undecided and tied up in litigation, Williams is appointed as Juvenile Court judge, succeeding a retiring judge;

• February 2012: A federal judge orders the contested ballots in the 2010 election to be counted;

• April 2012: After the contested ballots are counted, Hunter wins the election by 74 votes;

• September 2012: Six teens accused of beating a North College Hill man because, police said, they were "bored," appear before Hunter. The Enquirer names the teens in news stories. In retaliation, Hunter bars Enquirer reporters from court even after The Enquirer sues and an appeals court orders her to stop barring The Enquirer;

• October 2012: Hamilton County commissioners sue Hunter after she tries to hire another court administrator to answer only to her;

• November 2012: After Hunter walks out of a meeting with an Ohio Supreme Court justice, the high court adopts a ruling that makes Williams the presiding judge in Juvenile Court, requiring Hunter to answer to Williams on administrative issues;

• July 2013: An appeals court finds Hunter in contempt for barring Enquirer reporters from Juvenile Court after the appeals court ordered her to stop the practice;

• August 2013: Prosecutor Joe Deters steps down as the attorney defending Hunter in lawsuits filed against her after Hunter filed complaints about Deters and three of the attorneys in his office with the Ohio Supreme Court;

• Sept. 13, 2013: The Enquirer reports that prosecutors suspect Hunter has altered documents in her court;

• Sept. 24, 2013: Special prosecutors are appointed to investigate allegations that Hunter altered documents in cases before her;

• October 2013: Hunter and her attorneys, who sued to get her the judgeship, are awarded $921,000 in legal fees to be paid by taxpayers. They later settle for about $840,000;

• November 2013: Hunter is taken from court by ambulance and briefly hospitalized;

• December 2013: Special prosecutors subpoena Juvenile Court workers. Hunter is taken from court by ambulance and briefly hospitalized;

• January 2014: Hunter is indicted for eight felony charges by a Hamilton County grand jury;

• Sept. 8, 2014: Hunter's trial begins.