Sheriff's contempt hearing delayed
The city wants common pleas court judges to be named as parties to the action.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judges may be able to adopt internal policies about county jail operations, but Youngstown Municipal Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly says they can't supersede her sentencing orders.
"Municipal courts are not courts that are inferior to common pleas courts," Youngstown Law Director Iris Torres Guglucello said Monday, after filing a brief with the 7th District Court of Appeals.
The appellate court temporarily stopped Judge Kobly from proceeding with a contempt of court hearing for Sheriff Randall A. Wellington, and is expected to render a final decision soon.
Judge Kobly wanted Wellington to explain why a city man, Ronald Tomlin, didn't serve a seven-day jail sentence in November 2005 for a misdemeanor domestic violence conviction -- despite her "Do Not Release" order. Wellington has said the part of the judge's journal entry with her handwritten instructions was not received by jail personnel.
Prosecutor's explanation
In asking the appeals judges to stop the contempt hearing, county Prosecutor Paul J. Gains argued that Wellington would violate the common pleas judges' emergency jail release policy every time he honored Judge Kobly's "Do Not Release" orders on inmates.
Common pleas judges have used the mechanism to limit population at the jail, which a federal judge last year declared to be unconstitutional because of overcrowding and staffing shortages. Inmates who qualify, based on the seriousness of their crimes, either serve time when jail space is available or have their sentences converted or suspended by judges.
Municipal courts have the same jurisdiction as common pleas courts over misdemeanor cases. Once offenders have been sentenced in municipal court, common pleas courts can't change those sentences, Guglucello said.
The city also filed a motion last week to make the common pleas judges indispensable parties to the sheriff's complaint.
"Any determination by this Court, or by a reviewing Court may impact the Common Pleas Court's ability to enforce their Release Mechanism, and for this reason alone, they are necessary persons needed for a just adjudication."
That motion "has no merit," Gains said Monday.