Judge Tracie Hunter gets June trial date
Tracie Hunter's second trial won't be like the first.
Hunter, the controversial Hamilton County Juvenile Court judge convicted last fall of a felony, was in court Wednesday to get a new trial on eight other felony charges that were declared a mistrial in her first trial.
She also found out quickly that this trial will be very different than the first. Then, she was convicted of using her authority as a judge to provide documentation her brother, a Juvenile Court worker fired for punching a teen inmate in the face, used in a disciplinary hearing.
In the first trial, Norbert Nadel was the judge. Because Hunter was a fellow judge, Nadel gave her some special treatment, such as allowing Hunter to stay in jury rooms, not in the audience, until her case was called. Normally, those charged with crimes sit in the audience waiting. She also spoke to Nadel a few times, something defendants rarely are allowed.
Because Nadel retired at the end of 2014, Wednesday's hearing was before his elected replacement, Judge Patrick Dinkelacker. Dinkelacker required that Hunter sit in the audience, not in a jury room, until her case was called. She also tried to address Dinkelacker, but he wouldn't allow it, telling her she needed to speak to her attorney, who would address the court.
Dinkelacker set a June 1 trial date for those eight counts.
As Hunter's case began again in court, several community activists urged Hamilton County commissioners to encourage prosecutors to drop the case, or to cut funding so they will be forced to do so.
"Re-trying her seems so punitive. It serves no public interest," said the Rev. Damon Lynch III, a Cincinnati pastor and civil rights activist. "This is not an ax murderer."
County taxpayers have paid about $460,000 so far on Hunter's prosecution, and hundreds of thousands more could be spent on her retrial and appeal. Commissioner Todd Portune, a Democrat, said the costs are just one reason to drop the case. He said the continuing prosecution is dividing the community because Hunter's supporters, many of them African-American, believe the former judge has been targeted because she's black.
"This issue is not where we should be putting our money," Portune said. "As a county, we need to focus on moving forward."
Portune's fellow commissioners, Republicans Greg Hartmann and Chris Monzel, did not comment on the case at their Wednesday meeting. Regardless of their feelings about the case, there probably isn't much commissioners can do about it.
County Administrator Christian Sigman said the special prosecutors handling the case are being paid by order of the Common Pleas Court judges. He said commissioners don't have authority to intervene.
In the first trial, a jury reached a unanimous decision on one of the nine felonies against her. The other eight were declared a mistrial. In them, she is accused of backdating court documents in cases before her to hurt prosecutions and of misusing a public credit card for personal use.
Those charges carry a maximum prison sentence of 121/2 years.
Nadel sentenced Hunter to six months in the Hamilton County Justice Center on her conviction, but she is allowed to remain free while she appeals the sentence and conviction.
Hunter is still a judge, but the Ohio Supreme Court suspended her without pay following her felony conviction.