Posted on 06/18/2006 11:00:29 PM PDT by kenth
A Cuyahoga County judge threw out the charge against a man accused of raping a girl six years ago when the prosecutor in the case was 45 minutes late to trial.
Prosecutors have filed an appeal and said, if necessary, they will refile the charge against Norman Allen Craig, 22, of North Ridgeville.
The mother of the now 16-year-old Rocky River girl said her daughter feels victimized by the judge’s decision.
Common Pleas Judge Eileen Gallagher dismissed the case when Assistant County Prosecutor Mark Schneider had not shown up by 1:45 p.m. Monday, after she told both sides to be in court at 1 p.m.
Schneider was in his office preparing an appeal seeking to prevent the judge from continuing with the trial.
Earlier in the day, Schneider had asked the judge to remove herself from the case, saying the judge said last year that she thought the accuser had credibility problems.
“Nobody should be rendering opinions from the bench before trial,” Schneider said. “A child victim who’s being put through the wringer deserves a fair shake at trial.”
Gallagher said her decision to throw out the charge had nothing to do with the girl’s credibility.
“It was all about the unprofessional actions of a prosecutor,” she said. “You don’t show up — too bad. Don’t treat me like a punk and not show up in court without giving us the courtesy of notifying us where you are.”
County Prosecutor Bill Mason said calls were made to Gallagher’s office, and she should have been aware of Schneider’s pending arrival before deciding to throw out the case.
See tag line.
L
So you think a rapist should go free?
Ummmm, WHICH ugly one?
He has not been tried yet and you are already calling him a rapist. Did you also call the Duke boys rapist when the story first came out?
The judge should have punished the lawyer, not the entire court.
I may be a voice crying out in the wilderness, but I have to point out that judges let lawyers run rampant in the courtrooms and we bitch about it here often. Here a judge doesn't let a lawyer control the proceedings--and there is no excuse from the lawyer as to why they didn't show, mind you--and everyone's on the judge like it's some sort of awful chore to REFILE a dismissed case.
As long as it's not dismissed with prejudice, it's no big deal, and it'll probably end up in another courtroom instead of in front of the p'oed judge, which solves another problem, too.
I would be on the prosecutor's ass instead of the judge's here--if they're not showing up 45 minutes into a hearing, what else are they probably missing?
Not showing up for a court date can constituite grounds for disbarment.
The judge punished both the victim and the public.
So you think a rapist should go free?
No and I believe he will be retried and hopefully that lawyer is fined and maybe even spends a few days in jail to teach him about time management.
The judge should have punished the lawyer, not the entire court.
True. I wrote similar statement in post 31.
Sounds like its more about the Judges ego than justice.
Ahhhh acting just like the Punk she don't want to be treated like is a class act all by itself "gotta love that legislating from the bench punk act" !
Terrible decision, but it seems to be a trend.
Actually it's interesting.
If a prosecutor is late for a trial, he abuses the defendant, the victim, the witnesses, and everybody else who has business before that court that day.
The judge just should have slapped the prosecutor with contempt and levied a fine or some jail time. And yes, it sounds like there might be problems with this judge sitting on this case.
But we haven't had the trial, we don't know that the defendant is guilty. So while I tink the judge's action was wrong, it's not totally off the wall.
What stupidity on the part of Schneider -- he was late to court so he could finish working on a petition to get the judge thrown off of the case.
I would reinstate the case and fire the prosecutor.
This is despicable. Ohio, you know what to do.
Clearly, the prosecutor was being punished for deigning to question Her Royal Highness earlier in the case. Never mind that a rape victim takes some shrapnel. On the plus side, maybe this judge doesn't get the case when its re-filed.
The perp of a rape against a ten yr old girl shouldn't have lived long enough to go to trial.
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