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Ohio Disciplinary Counsel has filed a disciplinary complaint against a former judge of Strothers Municipal Court.

The allegations are that he lost in a primary election to a Democratic opponent.

Catherine Miller, who previously was Respondent’s assistant, is the mayor of Strothers. They had offices in the same building.

Mayor Miller filed a civil stalking protection order against Respondent that alleged he had harassed her at a polling place, calling her a “fat bitch” and threatening to “get rowdy” with her.

She alleged that she lost 29 pounds from the stress.

An ex parte order was entered on her behalf; his bailiff (who testified that he had screamed profanities at her “for the entire building to hear”), the Clerk of the Court and Chief of Police provided evidence on her behalf.

There was evidence of profane outbursts against her and the threat “If I lose,  we’re going down together.”

The protection order was affirmed on appeal.

The Vindicator covered the protection order hearing

During questioning of Host by attorney Peter Pattakos, who represents Leone, Host said she did not know how many times she heard Leone make “outbursts” about Miller, but it was “multiple, multiple times.” It was “bad” about the time Miller started supporting Leone’s opponent, common pleas court magistrate James Melone, in the May 2 primary.

She said Leone would call Miller “(three expletives).” She said Leone “was just screaming, and we were in the middle of the court, and he just kept screaming it, and I just went over to the clerk’s office.” She said a detective heard the remarks one day.

When Pattakos asked if she could remember any other ways Leone talked about Miller, she said “wanting to target her, like to ruin her.”

The Struthers clerk of courts, Amsi Medina, testified that after one “alarming” outburst by the judge, he spoke to Leone about it and told him to “calm down,” and Leone “calmed down a little bit.”

Medina said he remembered one time when he was talking to Leone about the election, and Leone said, “If I lose, we’re all going down together, and he was mainly talking about the mayor,” Medina said. He clarified that he thought Leone meant Miller “a little bit” “going down” politically and physically.

He added: “You can feel the anger” and “from the judge towards the mayor.”

Under questioning by Pattakos, Medina recalled that Leone described Miller in the same vulgar terms Host described.

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Miller testified, saying she and Leone were friends at Struthers High School and she worked for him when he was Struthers law director, and he was “calm.” He was close with her kids and watched them play sports.

She became mayor in January 2020 and earned accolades, but Leone made some controversial moves. She said she and Leone got along as mayor and judge well enough until January of this year when they clashed over budgeting / financial issues with the court. Leone “became much more aggressive, much more vocal and very abrasive,” she said.

Within the last few months, she feared for her safety, partly because about 40 people came to her to tell what Leone was saying. She decided to seek a protection order against Leone after the election, mostly because of the way he treated her Election Day at a polling place in Struthers. She is up for re-election this year but had no challenger in the primary. She spends the day at the polls “for whatever is on the ballot,” she said.

About 20 times after he arrived, he would step between her and someone trying to talk to her, resulting in Miller walking away, she said.

Later, someone said something about not getting “rowdy,” and Leone told Miller from a couple of feet away, “We can get rowdy. Let’s get rowdy. We can get rowdy right now if you want to.” Miller said she backed away.

She said there was “fire behind his eyes,” and he took a posture with fists and arms pulled up “in a rage.” She reported her concerns to the county board of elections twice that day. A deputy came out and stayed from 3 p.m. until the polls closed.

Leone lives on the street behind her and a few houses down, she said. Her husband does not let her go anywhere by herself, she said. She has lost 29 pounds because of the stress, she said.

Her office is in the city building where the courts and Leone’s offices are located. She frequently would call to find out if Leone was at the city building that day and avoided going there if he was. She said she personally heard Leone’s outbursts in the city building three or four times, but she never filed a police report.

She also would check security cameras before leaving her office to avoid him, she said.

Leone did not call any witnesses.

In closing arguments, Pattakos said that even if all of the things the witnesses said were true, “it does not come close to eclipsing the First Amendment protections for political speech at issue.”

Maro said all of the witnesses said “they were afraid” of Leone. “They were afraid of escalating conduct. They were afraid of the escalating language. They were afraid of his demeanor. They were worried it was going to explode and spill over into something more. That is what the civil stalking protection order is designed to prevent.”

(Mike Frisch)