WARREN Lawyer's status puts cases at risk

The deadline for filing in the bachelorette case was Aug. 11.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
and STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- At least two high-profile civil cases alleging police brutality are at risk of being thrown out of U.S. District Court in Youngstown because the lawyer who filed them was not admitted to practice there.
Richard Olivito was the only attorney to sign the civil complaints against the city of Warren and its police department on two cases: Clarence Clay, who says he was subjected to an illegal strip-search, and Lea Dotson and four others, who say they were assaulted by police when police raided a bachelorette party in August 2001.
"There could be a problem," said Atty. Sarah Kovoor, who has been involved in the cases but did not sign the lawsuits.
"This concerns me a great deal because at the time the motion was filed, it was not signed by an attorney admitted to practice in the Northern District of Ohio."
The lapse was pointed out in a motion by Atty. Randall Weltman, who represents police officers in both cases.
"Because Mr. Olivito is not admitted to the bar of this court, he is prohibited from commencing this action," Weltman's motion states.
"Consequently, this court cannot grant relief upon any stated claim in the action improperly commenced by Mr. Olivito."
Rules of the district court require attorneys to fill out an application, attend a seminar and pay $90.
Olivito, of Boardman, said he subsequently applied and was admitted to practice before the court Aug. 27.
He said he had already been admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court in southern Ohio and the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati.
Here's the situation
The Dotson case in particular concerns Kovoor because it had to be filed by Aug. 11.
"In the Dotson case, she had two years to file and the matter took place in 2001, so there is a time issue here," Kovoor said.
If a federal judge tosses out the claim, Dotson and the others may not be able to refile.
Although other lawyers say it is a possibility, Olivito contends the cases will not be tossed, because his status before the court does not affect the validity of his client's claims.
"The only one it can affect is me," he said. "The worst that could happen is I fall off the case."
Olivito vaulted to the center of brutality allegations against the Warren Police Department in June, when he became a lawyer for Lyndal Kimble, whose videotaped arrest made national news.
Olivito got Kimble as a client after seeing the case on television and soliciting the family by telephone, he said.
Olivito has taken on more clients as allegations of brutality widened. He and Kovoor also represent Michael Simpson Jr., who says he was injured when police broke up a gathering outside Comfort Inn on North Park Avenue downtown.
Civil lawsuits have not been filed in these cases.
Lawyer's history
Olivito said he has worked on significant civil rights cases in the past for clients as far away as Minnesota.
He says his work in Steubenville was partially responsible for bringing in federal oversight in that Ohio River city.
In a motion relating to Clay's trial on charges of resisting arrest and failure to stop at a stop sign in Warren Municipal Court, Olivito cited an appeal he wrote after losing a police abuse case in Steubenville.
"Plaintiff, in an overlong, poorly supported and nearly incomprehensible appellate brief, has not pointed to a genuine issue of material fact that would allow him to avoid summary judgment on any of these issues," the chief judge of the 6th Circuit Court wrote, rejecting that appeal.
At the first hearing for Lyndal Kimble, who faces charges of felonious assault on a police officer, possession of drugs and tampering with evidence, Olivito questioned the impartiality of Warren Municipal Court and declared the whole city to be unconstitutional.
He was cited for contempt by Judge Terry Ivanchak and fined $100.
sinkovich@vindy.com
siff@vindy.com