7TH DISTRICT APPEALS COURT Candidates cite experience

The court of appeals reviews work done in lower courts from eight counties.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Judge C. Ashley Pike says the 7th District Court of Appeals needs a trial judge's perspective, and he's the man for the job.
But Judge Joseph Vukovich says trial court experience isn't necessary at the appellate level.
The two are squaring off for election to the appellate court seat Judge Vukovich has held the past six years.
Judge Vukovich is one of four judges on the 7th District panel. Judge Cheryl Waite is also seeking re-election but is unopposed.
The court of appeals reviews decisions made from lower courts in Mahoning, Columbiana, Belmont, Carroll, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe and Noble counties. It bases rulings on a review of trial transcripts and other court records.
Trial experience
Judge Pike, a common pleas judge from Columbiana County, says such a review would be difficult since none of the four judges on the court of appeals has any trial court experience on the bench.
The court tends to try cases over again, rather than simply reviewing what happened at the trial court level, he said.
"Things look a lot different from a transcript than when you're looking at a person in the eye," he said.
But Judge Vukovich said trial court experience isn't necessary to be an appellate judge. He said knowledge of the law and proper procedure is all that's needed.
"I find it almost comical that he says his experience is more important than mine, when I'm the one who's been on the bench for 51/2 years," Judge Vukovich said.
Judge Vukovich said his 18 years in the state Legislature gives him a unique insight into the laws he's charged with upholding.
Critical of slowness
Judge Pike also said the appellate court is chronically slow in cranking out opinions, sometimes taking more than five years to decide issues on aggravated murder cases.
"These people are not connected to the real world and the work is not getting done," Judge Pike said.
The blame falls mostly on Judge Vukovich because he's been in a leadership position to turn that around, Judge Pike said.
Judge Vukovich acknowledged that the court had a heavy backlog of cases when he took office, due mostly to having too few judges and a high volume of aggravated murder cases. But he said the judges have worked hard to improve.
He said the backlog was 810 cases in 1997, but was cut to 471 cases as of June 30, 2002.
"I think a 42 percent reduction is pretty damn good," Judge Vukovich said.
The reduction came about even though there were 2,877 new filings from 1997 to 2002, Judge Vukovich said.
As proof of his part in the reduction, Judge Vukovich said he issued 142 opinions in one year, which was a record for the court. He averages one written opinion every 3.2 working days, he said.
Mediation
Judge Pike said that if elected, he would push for better case management to resolve cases faster, giving preference to children's cases. He would also look into implementing a mediation program to help cut the number of pending appeals.
Judge Vukovich said the court tried mediation once before and it didn't work.
Judge Pike said reversals by the appellate court too often come without further instruction for the trial judge involved.
"Every decision should be a road map to let the trial judge know what he or she did wrong," Judge Pike said.
"The trial judges have their job and we have ours," Judge Vukovich said. "We shouldn't do their job for them."