COLUCCI CASE State high court rejects lawyer's response to misconduct allegations

The information apparently was sent on time, but to the wrong address.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Ohio Supreme Court has rejected a local attorney's response to allegations of misconduct made against him because it arrived too late.
The Mahoning County Bar Association filed a complaint with the Supreme Court earlier this month against Atty. Mark Colucci of Youngstown. The bar association accused Colucci of improper conduct and asked the high court to suspend Colucci's law license while the matter is pending.
Colucci had 10 days to file his response, which expired Thursday. He submitted a written response Wednesday, but wrongly sent it to the high court's board of commissioners on grievances and discipline, which is located in a different building.
The response should have gone directly to the court justices, since that's where the bar association's request for a temporary license suspension was filed and because they will be the ones to decide on the proposed suspension, court spokesman Dennis Whalen said.
Colucci could not be reached to comment.
Sent to wrong address
Compounding the problem, Whalen said, is that the board of commissioners had recently relocated and Colucci sent his response to the former address. It was forwarded to the board's current address, and then to the high court's offices, but didn't get there until Friday, which was too late.
"The deadlines are the deadlines," Whalen said. "The fact is that the court simply cannot accept something that was not submitted on time."
That means when the justices decide on the request for an interim suspension of Colucci's law license, they will consider only the information in the complaint against him, not his response.
"We sent it back to him, so we don't even have it," Whalen said.
He said there is no timetable for when the justices will decide on the interim suspension.
bjackson@vindy.com