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Plough has public defender arrested Attorney told judge he was not ready to try case he had for less than a day

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David O'Brien
August 17, 2007

By Dave O'Brien

Record-Courier staff writer

Portage County Municipal Court Judge John Plough ordered a Portage County public defender placed under arrest for contempt of court Thursday.

The order was given after the attorney said he was unprepared and unable to begin a scheduled trial, having only been appointed to represent a defendant the day before the trial was scheduled to begin.

Brian Jones, an employee of Portage County Public Defender Dennis Lager since May, was held in contempt of court during an afternoon trial at Portage County Municipal Court in Kent after he told Plough he was unable to go forward with the trial.

Plough ordered a Portage County Sheriff's deputy to remove Jones from his courtroom in front of his client, spectators and courthouse employees. Jones is representing Jordan S. Scott, 20, who was arrested bby Kent police June 17 and charged with one count of misdemeanor assault. He was arraigned June 18 and is incarcerated in the Portage County Jail on an unrelated felony charge.

Scott had a pre-trial hearing July 25, but according to Plough failed for almost two months to obtain counsel. He was appointed a public defender on Wednesday. With the trial set to begin at 11 a.m. Thursday, Plough moved the trial back to 1:30 p.m., giving Jones two-and-a-half-hours to prepare his case.

Plough also noted from the bench the presence of a Record-Courier reporter and, from the bench, said he believed someone in the public defender's office was to blame for notifying the newspaper of the upcoming trial.

A source, who requested anonymity, called the Record-Courier and informed a reporter of Plough's intent to hold Jones in contempt. The source also said the Portage County Public Defender's Office has a written policy not to take cases to trial with a single day's notice.

When Jones brought up the existence of that policy in court Thursday, Plough told Jones it wasn't the time for "speeches" and asked if Jones wanted to make an opening statement. As Jones continued to explain the situation, saying he had a "pre-trial matter" to bring up, Plough interrupted him.

"What pre-trial matter? Trial is starting right now," Plough said, refusing to hear Jones' arguments about the matter and again asking him if he was prepared to move forward.

Jones said Lager sent a letter to Plough in August 2006 stating his concerns about Plough's treatment of defendants represented by public defenders, a letter Plough denied receiving. Plough also refused to take a new copy of the letter from Jones.

After Jones was led out of the courtroom, Plough re-set Scott's trial for Aug. 24. He also admonished Scott for not securing legal counsel while incarcerated, something jail inmates are given the opportunity to do after their arraignments.

"You had an opportunity since June 18 to get a public defender," Plough told Scott, who sat quietly throughout the incident. "Mr. Scott, you had two months to prepare for trial. It's not the court's fault you didn't do that."

In court, Plough said he believed politics was to blame for the Record-Courier being contacted about the case. Plough is a controversial former Portage County Prosecutor and Ravenna attorney who won an upset victory for judge over several opponents in November 2005, even after he was rated "not recommended" for the bench by the Portage County Bar Association.

It is not the first time a public defender has drawn Plough's ire in the courtroom. Public defender Robin Bostick also was threatened with contempt charges when appearing before Plough on a previous case with little time to prepare.

That incident and others prompted Portage County Common Pleas Judge Laurie Pittman to file a complaint with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Ohio Supreme Court in May, alleging Plough had intimidated defendants, abused their rights to a speedy trial, issued inappropriate sentences and keeping incomplete or inaccurate records of trials.

Such complaints normally are confidential, but the (Cleveland) Plain Dealer reported the complaint in a story shortly after it was filed.

Plough was unapologetic for his actions Thursday.

"The public defender's office is not going to impede justice in Portage County," he said.




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34.
    Posted by sowhat August 23, 2007
To specialed......if you are reading the docket, then re-read. The case at hand that is in question is CRB1180, Portage county municipal court criminal pre-trial report criminal rule 17.1.....State of ohio v scott 3) stipulations/recommendations written by scott states, A to apply for PD. This was stamped and signed by the prosecuting attorney on july 25, 07. What is wrong is that who ever is to take this report and verify that this person is indigent is remiss in their duty as an officer of the court .

33.
    Posted by I_laff_at_everyone August 22, 2007
people need to look at the facts.it is not the prosecutors job to get a defendant an attorney. nor is it the p.d.'s job to find a client. in a major case such as murder the judge may appoint an atty but in a case like this it is the defendants job to fill out the affidavit for counsel, pay $25 and if approved contact the atty. the p.d. was applied for on 8-15-07 not any other time( read the docket). the p.d. often gets a bad rap for rushing clients thru the system of being unprepared. i call tell you with certainty that mr. lager and his assistants do a better job than half the atty's you could retain in po co. i i were to be in troublei would not mind having them on my side. they need to be comended for not taking this rush job to trial.

32.
    Posted by Ravenna Ohio August 22, 2007
I cant wait to see him taken down (and I will be doing a happy dance.) I don't care about ANY of the so called "political parties" in portage county. I know that he is inappropriate and needs not be in the high standing job that he was elected and pass punishments on others in the manner that he does. Regardless of what goes on around him in portage county, he can not run his court room as a dictatorship.

31.
    Posted by sowhat August 22, 2007
Wake up and think for once. On july 25, 07 Scott filed a criminal pre-trial report 3) A to apply for PD and this was signed by the prosecuting attorney. The arraignment was on june 18 by the kent administrative judge. The prosecutor office knew Scott needed counsel long before the time Lager delivered his letter to the bailiff Aug 7, indicating his office (PD) would not take any case presented to them 7 days or less for preparation. The trial was set for Aug 16. Something is wrong and it is not the judge.

30.
    Posted by wfedman2004 August 21, 2007
Hey John Keep up the good work. You put me in jail and I got over it. These ass' are upset because you are not a part of the Craig Stevens group. Although, some of the stuff I have read in this blog I have told you and it is true. We all know that you are crazy as hell on the bench, but after you calm down you generally fix your mistakes and you are generally a genuine person. Any body in Portage County that has a brain knows that there is three Democratic parties in Portage County. The Craig Stevens party, the old Paul Jones party, and the legitimate Democratic party. Maybe we all should switch to Republicans.
Your friend, you know who I am.

W.E.T.

29.
    Posted by wfedman2004 August 21, 2007
Hey John Keep up the good work. You put me in jail and I got over it. These ass' are upset because you are not a part of the Craig Stevens group. Although, some of the stuff I have read in this blog I have told you and it is true. We all know that you are crazy as hell on the bench, but after you calm down you generally fix your mistakes and you are generally a genuine person. Any body in Portage County that has a brain knows that there is three Democratic parties in Portage County. The Craig Stevens party, the old Paul Jones party, and the legitimate Democratic party. Maybe we all should switch to Republicans.
Your friend, you know who I am.

W.E.T.

28.
    Posted by sphelt1 August 20, 2007
Wow, it sure is fun to watch the democrat party tear itself apart here in Portage County. The Craig Stevens/green machine vs. the high horse wmd/GOB haters network.

One dem judge attacking another, oh, I'm sorry, judges are nonpartisan! LOL!! Keep at it!! Maybe after a decade or two a Portage Republican will get elected. I know, it is a crazy dream but it helps me sleep at night.

27.
    Posted by Ravenna Ohio August 20, 2007
If the defendant waited till the last min. to get council, then why is his public defender taking the fall for it? Also, either Portage County Public Defender's Office has a written policy not to take cases to trial with a single day's notice or it doesn't. The public defender was doing his job! Sounds like to me that maybe this public defender was set up and heard through rumors or just knew he was set up so made sure the record courier was there to witness it. Also, maybe all eyes are on Judge Plough now there watching his every move, boy guess that's the price you pay when you make ONE mistake. He gives NO mercy to anyone so he needs to reap what he sews.

26.
    Posted by whiteninjatiger August 20, 2007
Well I honestly thought that Plough would be a good judge for Portage County ,unfortunatley I was wrong, Mr. Plough you need to go, all the antics you have done since appointed is absurb and down right a-- nine ,your on a power trip , take some prozac and chill.

25.
    Posted by wasamattau August 20, 2007
John boy is at it again, this POS needs to go.

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