YOUNGSTOWN Judge cleared in ethics probe

The campaign ethics committee said no rules were broken by the judge.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Mahoning County judge, accused by his sister of violating campaign ethics rules, has been cleared by the county bar association.
The complaint against Judge Timothy P. Maloney of probate court was lodged by Margaret Lorenzi of East Midlothian Boulevard. Neither Lorenzi nor Judge Maloney could be reached to comment.
Lorenzi filed an eight-count complaint with the bar association's campaign ethics commission Nov. 21, alleging violations that stemmed primarily from Judge Maloney's recent campaign for re-election in which he defeated Atty. Maureen Sweeney.
The commission reviewed and dismissed all but one count.
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The one count that remained dealt with an appearance by Judge Maloney on a local talk-radio show in October. Lorenzi said the judge improperly discussed her commitment to a psychiatric facility in 1996.
She said he told a caller that her placement was voluntary when he knew that was not true. She also said he violated her right to confidentiality by discussing the matter publicly.
Judge Maloney, in a written response to the complaint, had argued that Lorenzi signed a voluntary admission into St. Elizabeth Health Center in August 1996. Judge Maloney was a magistrate in the probate court at that time.
The commission held a hearing on the matter Saturday and released a decision Tuesday, saying the judge had done nothing wrong.
Atty. Mary Jane Stephens, who represented Judge Maloney at the hearing, said the whole matter was frivolous and should have been tossed out. She was pleased that the committee ruled in the judge's favor.
A caller to the radio program had accused the judge of having his sister arrested and committed.
In listening to the judge's full response to the caller, the committee said he made it clear that she was taken into custody, transported to the hospital and then signed the voluntary admission.
"When reviewed in its entirety, the radio listener is left with the impression that [Lorenzi] signed a voluntary admission after arriving at the hospital, which she in fact did," the commission's report says. "The committee does not find a knowing misrepresentation of the facts."
Lorenzi's contention that her right to confidentiality had been breached was dismissed by the committee as being without merit. The panel said Lorenzi herself had addressed the issue at a public forum and in a lawsuit she filed in common pleas court.
bjackson@vindy.com