Suspended East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor, associate publisher

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio- The public corruption trial of suspended East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King, who is Black, has been delayed amid claims of bias and prejudice by the presiding judge over the case, Hollie Gallagher, one of 34 largely White judges in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas general division court.

King's Black defense attorney, Charles Tyler, filed an affidavit of disqualification against Gallagher with a trial date originally set for this week, seeking her removal from the case. It, via an amended filing, awaits a determination by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy on the matter. Per state law, Kennedy, as chief justice, has the authority to remove lower court judges in Ohio from cases for conflict or bias, or other reasons, including municipal, common pleas and state appellate court judges. She has put King's case on hold temporarily.

Affidavits of prejudice must be notarized and filed at least seven days prior to the next scheduled hearing as outlined in Ohio Revised Code Section 2701.031. If so, the case is automatically put on hold pending the outcome of the affidavit. Most judges, however, retaliate against the affiant if possible, and if not, the judge who succeeds them in cases of removal usually does it for them. All of it is unguarded public corruption, sources say.

King, 57, was the city’s mayor since 2016. He was indicted in late October on 12 counts, including theft in office, unlawful interest in a public contract and soliciting or receiving improper compensation. In short, prosecutors say he steered monies to family members, friends, and former councilman Ernest Smith, who is Black like King and has also been indicted and pleaded not guilty, as did King.

King was later suspended with pay by the Ohio Supreme Court at the urging of Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley, whom critics say is out to criminalize Black, male elected officials one by one, and any outspoken Black community activists he can railroad into prison with help from crooked and racist judges.

White elected officials get a free pass from O'Malley, sources say, including some common pleas judges who routinely falsify documents, tamper with records, and in some cases help prosecutors and the office of the county clerk fix indictments against Blacks when White cops want them falsely imprisoned.

Also via state law, O'Malley represents these judges when appeals, affidavits of prejudice and writs are filed against them in higher courts, an arrangement, says sources, that gives him more leeway in getting erroneous and unconstitutional convictions with judicial help, a disproportionate number of those prosecuted of whom are Black and of Cleveland, the largest city in the county and a majority Black city. East Cleveland is a neighboring and impoverished city of some 14,000 people, and one of the poorest in the nation.

Gallagher is a bully, according to the sworn affidavit, and she says she can do as she pleases because she is a judge. She is also accused of berating King's attorney in a hearing before mainstream media, after he moved to dismiss some of the charges against his client, an indication, said sources, that defense attorneys who try to properly defend their Black clients are the targets of judges and O'Malley's office. And data show that indigent defense counsel usually do what the judges and prosecutors seek behind closed doors, including chief Cuyahoga County Public Defender Cullen Sweeney, a wannabe judge who unsuccessfully sought a judgeship in 2012. He has said that judges can do whatever they want to do to Black indigent defendants, with the support from his office.

Likewise, Cuyahoga County Executive Chris Ronanye has said that he too will do nothing when White judges deny indigent Blacks counsel because they will not take illegal plea deals or if they speak out against racism and public corruption, and when the public defender's office refuses to represent them.

King and his supporters say the prosecution is politically motivated, while his opponents say it's long overdue.

At one time the presiding and administrative judge of the general division common pleas courts in Ohio had the authority to determine any such removal of municipal or common pleas judges from cases, but the state legislature, with lobbying from Black Cleveland activists and some Cleveland NAACP affiliates, amended the law to give that authority to the chief justice of the state Supreme Court.

Activists had claimed that then presiding and administrative judge Joe Russo, chosen by his judicial colleagues to be chief judge of Cuyahoga's general division common pleas bench, is blatantly corrupt and covered up public corruption by other judges, including the arbitrary denial of affidavits of disqualification, regardless of the merits.

Russo has since been replaced as chief judge by Judge Brendan Sheehan, who is not as bad as Russo, sources say and research reveals. But an overhaul of the Cuyahoga County general division common pleas court is still needed, critics say.

Activists are calling for a consent decree for court reforms with the U.S. Department of Justice and Cuyahoga County, one similar to the consent decree for police reforms that remains pending in Cleveland behind police misconduct, and unprecedented murders of Blacks by Cleveland police like 12-year-old Tamir Rice and a host of others.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com are the most-read Black digital newspaper and blog in Ohio. Tel. 216-659-0473. Email-editor@clevelandurbannews.com