To ensure fairness, judge borrows benches

Judge Curran presided over the Jose Mesa criminal trial in 1997.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Many Trumbull County residents can probably name at least one common pleas court judge -- their names appear on the ballot every two years.
But some of the most noteworthy cases that come through the county courthouse are heard not by Judges Peter Kontos, W. Wyatt McKay, Andrew Logan or John M. Stuard, but by a visiting judge from Shaker Heights named Thomas P. Curran.
Judge Curran, 70, who served as Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge from 1994 to 2002, has presided over several such cases in the past couple years. Many are of interest because public officials are involved.
The reason for visiting judges, officials say, is that in some cases, elected judges have a potential conflict of interest that would make it difficult for them to hear the case. For instance, a case involving a police chief or employee of the prosecutor's office might require a visiting judge because the elected judges have a working relationship with such people.
Curran, for example, has presided over two civil cases involving police chiefs in the past two years: Bruce Simeone of Niles and former Chief Anthony Ross of Girard.
But Judge Curran has handled cases in Trumbull and Mahoning counties for other reasons, too.
Hill case
He was assigned to the post-conviction relief case of killer Danny Lee Hill because the local judges work with the mother of Hill's victim. Miriam Fife, a victims/witness advocate with the Trumbull County Prosecutor's office, is the mother of murder victim Raymond Fife.
In the Hill case, Judge Curran was asked to rule on whether Hill, formerly of Warren, was eligible for the death penalty. Hill claimed he was not because of mental retardation. Curran ruled otherwise.
In Mahoning County earlier this year, Judge Curran presided over two criminal cases in which the defendants were accused of making threats against sitting common pleas court judges.
Judge Curran also handled a case involving Edward Flask, former director of the Mahoning Valley Sanitary District.
In hearings in 2005, Judge Curran approved a negotiated settlement, ordering Flask to pay $25,000 of the $76,000 he owed to the Ohio Ethics Commission for the investigation of a case against him that showed he took improper gifts. Judge Curran ordered Flask to pay up or go to prison. Flask paid up.
In the Simeone case, Judge Curran presided when a jury awarded nearly $1 million in damages to the family of the man who died in an accident involving Simeone's cruiser.
In the Ross case, a jury ruled on behalf of the former police chief, saying Girard Municipal Court Judge Michael Bernard bumped Ross into a wall during a disagreement in the Girard city government building, but the jury awarded Ross no money.
Judge Curran has also served as visiting judge in other counties and presided over the post-conviction relief hearings for another death-row inmate, Clifton White. As he did in the Hill case, Curran ruled in that White's mental abilities didn't exclude him from the death penalty.
But perhaps Judge Curran's most famous case occurred in April 1997, while serving in Cuyahoga County.
That's when he heard the criminal case against former Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Jose Mesa, accused of rape and gross sexual imposition. Mesa was acquitted of all charges.
In an interview, Judge Curran declined to comment on any specific cases. But he said being a visiting judge can be a rewarding experience, especially the opportunity to help out the elected judges.
"You get more time for attention to detail as a visiting judge," said Judge Curran from the judge's chambers he was borrowing on a recent afternoon before hearings on two civil cases.
As a visiting judge, he isn't burdened with the kind of caseload that elected judges have and isn't required to accept every case he is asked to handle. "The challenge is the greatest in being a sitting judge," he said.
In Trumbull County, cases are assigned to the four common pleas court judges randomly, without regard to the type of the cases, court officials say. One other visiting judge, former Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Bannon, handles mostly asbestos-related litigation for Trumbull County.
"There's satisfaction from several quarters: in helping out the bench and in meeting new public servants and seeing how each county does things differently," Judge Curran said. "You pretty much have to follow the old adage, 'When in Rome ...'," Judge Curran said.
In cases where an elected judge has to recuse himself because of a conflict of interest, Judge Curran said he receives satisfaction in being able to step in and help.
Visiting judges also help by taking over an elected judge's docket when he or she becomes ill. A couple years ago, Judge Curran filled in for three months in such an instance, he said.
Visiting paychecks
Visiting judges are paid hourly, but the pay cannot exceed what an elected judge would make, Judge Curran said. The current salary for common pleas court judges is $116,100 per year.
According to the state Supreme Court, which pays most of common pleas judge salaries, Judge Curran earned $107,346 in 2005, working in nine different counties. He has worked in 10 so far this year and earned $55,439.
In 2005, Judge Curran earned $22,472 for his work in Trumbull County and $2,536 in Mahoning County, the Supreme Court reports. The county a visiting judge works in pays a small percentage of his salary.
Trumbull County paid $1,341 of Curran's 2005 compensation, the county auditor's office reported. So far in 2006, the county has paid $1,032 to him. Mahoning County officials reported that they did not have Curran's county pay information.
Before Judge Curran was appointed and then elected common pleas judge in Cuyahoga County, he was a private-practice attorney in Cleveland for 26 years, the last 10 of those as owner of his own law firm.
Before that, he worked in the criminal division of the U.S. Justice Department, handling many cases that involved crimes committed on the high seas and on government property such as military bases.