Judge's E-Mail to Newspaper Reportedly Forces Him Off Alleged Serial Killer's Trial
An Ohio judge’s e-mails to a newspaper about an alleged serial murderer whose case he was later assigned have reportedly led him to step down from the upcoming trial.
Although Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty declined to detail the conflict that is the basis of his decision yesterday to recuse himself from Anthony Sowell’s case, an editor of the Plain Dealer cites the e-mails, the Plain Dealer reports.
In a brief letter to an administrative judge, McGinty says his “public policy reform efforts” could create a conflict concerning Sowell.
A Plain Dealer editor, Susan Goldberg, says the problem is a series of e-mails that McGinty sent. The judge, who has a history of opposing the police practice of so-called straight release, in which a suspect is arrested but then released pending indictment, apparently may have referred to a missed opportunity to stop the suspect earlier, according to the newspaper article.
Sowell, who is now facing 11 murder counts, was arrested a year ago after a woman told Cleveland police he had attacked her. However, the case was not pursued because a city prosecutor decided the evidence was deficient. Six of the 11 women Sowell is charged with murdering were killed after his release.
Sowell, who has pleaded not guilty to the charges by reason of insanity, was arrested Oct. 31 and charged with the murders after officers came to his home to charge him with rape and discovered two decomposing bodies there. A subsequent search revealed nine more.
The judge declined to discuss the e-mails. Although they were marked as off the record, Goldberg says she didn’t consider them off the record because there was no confidentiality agreement before they were submitted, the Plain Dealer article explains.
Additional coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Authorities Reel Over Parolees’ Stunning Alleged Crimes in 2 States”
Plain Dealer: “Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold to take over Anthony Sowell case”
