Justice wasn’t served

Justice wasn’t served

On Tuesday, a Mahoning County Common Pleas judge appeared ready to hold an assistant county prosecutor in contempt of court — which could have meant a fine or even jail time — because she failed to show up for the start of a criminal trial.

Wednesday, the judge, John M. Durkin, declared his satisfaction with Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Natasha Frenchko’s apology to him and her “explanation that there was no intent on her part to disrespect the Court or to negatively impact the administration of justice.”

It is fine that Judge Durkin is satisfied that no disrespect was meant to him or the court when Frenchko chose to keep a speaking engagement rather than appear for jury selection in the case of Kenneth R. Miller, 27, who faced charges of robbery, felonious assault and domestic violence. But the administration of justice was negatively impacted. And the responsibility for that should be shared equally by Durkin and Frenchko.

She should have been there at the appointed time rather than sending another assistant prosecutor to ask for a continuance. But he should have done more to accommodate her absence, short of dismissing the case against Miller.

There were potential alternatives. A senior member of Prosecutor Paul Gains staff could have been summoned to get jury selection under way. The court could have recessed until after lunch, by which time Frenchko would have been available. Or Frenchko’s fill-in could have been encouraged to proceed with jury selection as best she could until Frenchko showed up.

Instead, Durkin decided to grant a motion by J. Jeffrey Limbian, Miller’s defense lawyer, to dismiss the charges. The prosecutor, Durkin noted, could choose to appeal the dismissal.

There’s a cost

That’s an assault on the justice system itself. Because Durkin couldn’t or wouldn’t find a way around Frencko’s temporary absence, the prosecutor’s office will be forced to put in numerous hours on its appeal. Miller’s court-appointed attorney will have to spend time on his response. And three judges on the 7th District Court of Appeals will have to work on sorting it out. Then the case may or may not end up back in Durkin’s court.

So, that’s untold hours that will be expended at taxpayers’ expense because Frenchko thought she had something more important to do Tuesday morning and Durkin wasn’t inclined to work around what he obviously viewed as an insult to the court. The only one who appears to have done his job was Limbian, who managed to get his client off.

But even that argument is flawed, because one of the issues at hand is that of a defendant’s right to a speedy trial. Criminal defendants shouldn’t be on tenterhooks for an unreasonable amount of time while awaiting trial. While Miller is now out of jail, this case will be hanging over his head for at least another six months, perhaps a year or more.

The final irony is that Frenchko was speaking to a group of nurses about sexual assault cases. Meanwhile a man accused of assault and domestic violence may never face trial. That’s hardly justice for the woman he was accused of abusing.