TRUMBULL COUNTY Prosecutor: Deny motion to have robbery case dropped

The judge is expected to rule on the case Tuesday.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A motion to have a robbery case dismissed should be denied because the defense attorney has no evidence to support his allegation that he was not given enough time to meet with his client, a Trumbull County prosecutor says.
A motion filed Thursday by Chuck Morrow, an assistant county prosecutor, states that Atty. Anthony Consoldane's allegation that the prosecutor and sheriff's department acted in concert to deny John M. Reed adequate legal counsel is false.
"The state categorically denies Mr. Consoldane's unsupported and unfounded accusations, inferences and insinuations," the motion states. "Indeed, Mr. Consoldane again has made bald assertions, and he fails, as is his normal practice, to offer even a scintilla of proof for these preposterous propositions. He creates smoke hoping a court will find a fire that does not exist."
Motion filed
Consoldane of the state Public Defender's Commission filed a motion Wednesday in common pleas court to dismiss Reed's case. Judge Andrew Logan is expected to rule on the motions Tuesday morning. Reed's trial is expected to begin Tuesday afternoon.
Reed, 36, of Deerfield, Warren, is being held in the county jail.
Consoldane said the sheriff's department discourages personal visits between him and his client. He further noted that the prosecutor's office advised the jail officials to tape all telephone conversations Reed has from the jail.
Morrow's motion denies the allegation. He says while all outgoing jail telephone calls are monitored by a computer system, the number to the public defender's office is restricted.
"Calls to that number are prevented from being monitored as they are designated as blocked," the motion states.
Morrow's motion further states that the defense attorney filed the motion to dismiss Reed's case because the a jail made a complaint about Consoldane's behavior.
Incident report
A sheriff's department incident report says several employees said Consoldane acted unprofessional and swore at guards when he went to the jail to visit Reed on Aug. 26.
"The following week, on Tuesday, Aug. 31, Mr. Consoldane's supervisor, Atty. James Lewis was contacted ad advised of this issue," Morrow's motion state. "Finally, Mr. Consoldane's unprofessional behavior at the jail on Aug. 26, 2004, was not the first instance of his questionable conduct."
The motion notes that on Oct. 20, 1999, and June 30, 2003, jail employees said Consoldane became irate. In the 1999 matter, Consoldane was accused of yelling at employees because two of his clients were not allowed to have underwear, and in 2003, Consoldane was upset because he had to wait to visit with his clients.
Consoldane has issued subpoenas for Prosecutor Dennis Watkins, Sheriff Thomas Altiere and Ernie Cook, chief of operations at the county jail, to appear at Tuesday's hearing.
Morrow is asking the judge to throw out the subpoenas. No ruling has been made.
sinkovich@vindy.com