Judge Reprimanded For Criticism Of Jury Verdict

From the web page of the Ohio Supreme Court

The Ohio Supreme Court today publicly reprimanded Judge Amelia (Amy) Salerno of the Franklin County Municipal Court for remarks she made to a jury after a not-guilty verdict.

Following a criminal trial, Judge Salerno told the jurors, along with others from the jury pool, that the verdict in the case was wrong, and she also disclosed additional charges pending against the defendant.

In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court concluded that Judge Salerno violated two judicial conduct rules – one that requires judges to behave in ways to promote the judiciary’s integrity and impartiality, and another that bars judges from commenting on jury verdicts except in a court order or opinion.

Several jurors were upset by Judge Salerno’s criticisms, and her statements attracted national media coverage, subjecting the state’s judicial system to criticism and ridicule, the court noted.

In May 2014, the Ohio State Bar Association filed the charges against Judge Salerno, who has served on the municipal court since 2005. The judge and the bar association agreed to certain facts, the violations, and the sanction. The Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline (now called the Board of Professional Conduct) recommended that the Supreme Court adopt the consent-to-discipline agreement between the parties, and the Supreme Court agreed in its per curiam opinion.

2014-1380. Ohio State Bar Assn. v. Salerno, Slip Opinion No. 2015-Ohio-791.

Detail here from the Columbus Dispatch.

LaShawn Chapman voted “not guilty” on Thursday along with her fellow Franklin County Municipal Court jurors in a misdemeanor assault case.

Then Chapman went home and cried, not because of the stress of deliberation, but because of what Judge Amy Salerno said to the jury after the verdict.

“(The judge) said, ‘Ninety-nine percent of the time, the jury is correct,'” according to Chapman. “‘Now it’s 98 percent. You got this wrong.’

“She berated us,” Chapman, 39, said of the judge. “It was just nasty.”

Four of the eight jurors who decided the case have complained to Administrative Judge James E. Green about how Salerno spoke to them afterward…

 (Mike Frisch)