Lawyer indicted in run-in with state trooper

The original charge has a maximum 18-month prison sentence.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
LISBON -- A defense attorney now faces two misdemeanor counts after originally being charged with a felony based on claims he slugged a state trooper.
A Columbiana County grand jury handed up two indictments Friday for Atty. Carl Joseph King, 52, of East Liverpool.
King is charged with resisting arrest, a first-degree misdemeanor bearing a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
He also is charged with obstructing official business, a second-degree misdemeanor bearing a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail and a $750 fine.
King was bound over to a grand jury from county municipal court in March after originally being charged with assault, a fourth-degree felony that has a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Authorities have accused King of punching an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper Nov. 1.
King was a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped by the state patrol on state Route 11 in Fairfield Township.
DUI charge
The driver, Kim Triner of Bank Street, East Liverpool, was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol and was taken to the patrol's Lisbon post, accompanied by King.
King is accused of striking Trooper Jim Oaks at the post.
The episode occurred after Oaks tried to prevent Triner from leaving the post. King intervened and shoved Oaks, it's alleged.
Oaks has said King struck him as he attempted to handcuff King.
King's prominence as a defense attorney prompted the court to appoint a special prosecutor to handle the case.
Atty. William McGinnis of Canton was assigned and presented the case to the grand jury.
It's unclear whether King's case will be heard in county common pleas or municipal court, McGinnis said.
The Ohio Supreme Court has appointed retired Judge John Milligan Jr., formerly of the Canton-based Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals, to oversee the case.