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Disciplinary Counsel v. O'Neill9/7/2004
Certainly, politics did not force Respondent to behave the way she did at times. However, to totally discard this factor one would have to ignore substantial evidence to the contrary. One witness, Sherry Mitchell, former employee of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, who left for a better employment opportunity, seemed to be one of the few impartial witnesses on this topic. She described the Court as a 'political, back-biting environment' and that decisions by court administration were 'rarely based on fact' but rather were 'made on personal agenda, who knew who and politics.' She testified as to the 'self-serving, malicious environment.' One judge openly made derogatory comments about Respondent to courthouse staff. (TR 17/22) Having served on a multi-judge court, I do not discard this issue as easily as the other panel members. The atmosphere which seems to pervade this Court has Respondent at the center, but there are other parties who seem to relish throwing gasoline on the fire. The scene of one of the complainant judges on her hands and knees writing an antagonistic remark with chalk on Respondent's parking spot would be comical if not so tragic. Some who claim that Respondent brings disrespect to that Court should consider the atmosphere they have helped foster. It must be clearly stated once again that Respondent cannot utilize this atmosphere as justification for her actions, but to ignore it is to provide only a partial picture of reality. The panel report's reference to a prior disciplinary action that was dismissed is prejudicial and should be removed.
{ } "The panel report reference to Respondent's refusal to acknowledge the wrongful nature of her conduct as a significant aggravating factor is not born out by her testimony. Respondent did testify that in some instances she should have handled things differently. She acknowledged that some mistakes were made. The fact that she denies the allegations is not evidence of anything. To chastise her for denying the allegations and mounting a vigorous defense should not be an aggravating factor since many of the counts are without basis.
{ } "The panel report further considers the criminal litigants to be victims of Respondent's actions. All of these individuals had recourse in the law for perceived violations of their due process rights. These individuals do not have a 'right' to probation or a presentence investigation if the judge determines that probation is not going to be granted. Competent counsel protects your due process rights within the law. That is their function. These criminal defendants were not denied their right to go to trial. These instances cannot stand alone on their merits as violations and certainly cannot be considered as a pattern of how Respondent handles criminal cases. Since 1992, she has presided over hundreds, if not thousands, of criminal cases and to allege that these several cases demonstrate a 'pattern' is stretching beyond the limits of reasonableness.
{ } "The panel report finding that Respondent was motivated by a selfish motive lacks justification. Respondent did not personally gain from her actions in any way. To insinuate that her personal motive was to have a manageable caseload is to ignore pressures put on trial judges to keep the docket current. The Supreme Court initiated the case reporting requirements to insure the timely resolution of cases. Once again, the few cases mentioned in the Amended Complaint certainly do not establish a pattern that docket control was more important to respondent than the rights of the parties. The testimony established the Respondent did grant continuance requests when she felt they were merited. A clear and convincing pattern is not established
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