Report: No ruling on blanket disqualification motion, but new judge will hear all criminal cases
Although the Ohio Supreme Court hasn’t yet ruled on a prosecutor’s blanket disqualification motion, a new judge is in place to hear all criminal cases on the docket of Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge, reports the Chronicle-Telegram.
Earlier this week, county prosecutor Dennis Will asked that Burge be removed from hearing all 280 cases from his office, saying that Burge’s language and behavior towards Will’s staff have been inappropriate, among other allegations.
Judge Edward Zaleski, a retiree from the court, will be handling Burge’s criminal call as of Friday from the courtroom of Judge James Walther, who oversees probate matters.
Zaleski says the state’s top court contacted him Thursday to ask him to fill in for Burge while the disqualification motion is pending, the article reports. Burge himself called Zaleski a fine choice to handle his docket.
