MAHONING COUNTY For talking instead of listening, man's hearing is put on hold

Jeff Best was talking when he should have been listening to the judge.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jeffrey Best was seemingly within a whisper of freedom.
But an ill-timed conversation with his lawyer ended his chance Tuesday and got him thrown back in jail to await another day in court.
Best, 33, of the Salem area, was a concert promoter at Ponderosa Park near Salem. Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced him in June 2003 to 30 months in prison for defrauding park patrons out of some $13,000.
In April, Best filed a written request to be let out of prison early on judicial release, formerly known as shock probation. Judge Krichbaum had denied two previous requests from Best without holding hearings, but ordered a hearing on the latest one.
During the hearing, Best stood with his hands cuffed in front of him and asked to be placed at Community Corrections Association on Market Street. While there, he could get a job and start paying back his victims, he said.
Judge Krichbaum said he had concerns about releasing Best from prison without first knowing that he had the means to make "substantial" monthly payments toward his debt.
"There is no way in the world I'm going to let you out and just let you pay as you can," the judge said.
As Judge Krichbaum was speaking, however, Best leaned to his left and whispered into the ear of his lawyer, Paul L. Scarsella. That angered the judge, who said it was disrespectful for the two to have a conversation while he was addressing the defendant.
"There's no point in me talking when you don't give a good crap what I'm saying," the judge told Best. "This hearing is recessed. Next case."
Deputies immediately took Best out of the courtroom and back to the county jail, where he will be held until the hearing resumes.
The judge said he's not sure when that will be.
Prosecutors say Best accepted money and credit card payments from park patrons for concert tickets, but used the payments to pay for other park expenses instead. The patrons got neither their tickets nor their money back.
After Best pleaded guilty last year to theft, misusing credit cards and passing bad checks, Judge Krichbaum promised to place him on probation if he repaid the victims before his sentencing date. When Best failed to make any payments at all toward restitution, he was sent to prison.
Scarsella told the judge Tuesday that Best had lined up someone who was willing to "back him" with enough money to pay back the debt.
"However, in an ironic twist, that check also turned out to be forged," Scarsella said.
bjackson@vindy.com