FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Prosecution rests and defense drops bombshell in

Judge case
Cincinnati, OH- September 28, 2014After two and a half weeks of
testimony by only a few witnesses, the prosecution has rested its case in the
trial of Judge Tracie M. Hunter. The trial has had the grandeur of a murder trial and a plot akin to a
poorly constructed Perry Mason episode or a 2014 remake of Much Ado About Nothing.
Despite the pomp and circumstance, each of the nine felony charges against the first term judge have
unraveled and the prosecution's case has gone down the drain, along with Hamilton County taxpayers
money. When asked about the likely cost of the case during pretrial hearings, the prosecutors office
admitted that they had not yet negotiated a fee. It appears that prosecutor Joe Deters, handed special
prosecutors Merlyn Shiverdecker and Scott Crosswell, III a blank check to bring frivolous charges against
Hunter.
Defense attorney Clyde Bennett, II, who used the prosecutors own witnesses to skillfully dismantle the
prosecution's case, said that the charges amounted to a personal vendetta and prosecutorial
vindictiveness towards a judge who refused to give up her seat. Assistant prosecutor James T. Harper
admitted that he and Joe Deters were upset when Hunter filed grievances against them with the Ohio
Supreme Court. It is the worst thing that can happen to an attorney, Harper stated. But, the biggest
bombshell in this case comes as defense attorney Clyde Bennett put his first witness on the stand,
Hunters case manager, Lisa Miller.
Miller testified that case management supervisor Connie Murdock, gave her directives to change the
language of one of Hunters rulings in the courts computer system. This is particularly disturbing, as
Miller also admitted that Hunters ruling in the Q.O. case, one of two cases for which Hunter has been
charged, is different in the courts case management system than Judge Hunter s ruling in the case. For
this to occur, a different judicial entry would have to have been created by someone other than Hunter,
and her signature forged on that document and entered in the system; as it defies logic that Hunter would
sign an entry that opposes her actual decision. Miller acknowledged that she created the entry that appears
in the system, but said she did not know why the journal query which is an exact match of the judicial
entry are different. Modifying a judges decision could constitute a serious criminal offense.
According to Proware software executive, it was Millers login that was used to backdate court entries in
both the A.C. and Q.O. cases, not Hunters. Miller testified to the same. Prosecutor Scott Crosswell
became unglued and stood up and began yelling at judge Norbert Nadel, when presiding judge Nadel
allowed Miller to read a note from Murdock instructing her to change Judge Hunters language in the
system.
Crosswell indicated that the accusation that Hunter backdated court documents was the most egregious of
all of the offenses of which Hunter was charged. During pre-trial hearings special prosecutor Crosswell
said that if Bennett could show him one incident where anyone else backdated documents, I will
prosecute them as well. Attorney Bennett suggested that not only did Hunter not backdate the two
entries in the D.M. and A.C. cases, but those who did might have done it to cover up a greater offense.
Katherine Pridemore, the prosecutions star witness and also an employee of the prosecutors office,
demonstrated the strength of Bennetts claim that the prosecutors office wanted Hunter off the bench by
any means necessary. Pridemore became unraveled as she railed against Hunter, pointing her finger at

Hunter and gnashing her teeth, I lived and breathed your client. Everyone in the prosecutors office knew
that she stepped all over the law! Under oath, Pridemore testified that the Ohio Supreme Court assigned
her to investigate Hunter. In an email we received on Friday, John VanNorman of the Ohio Supreme Court
denies that they ever conducted an investigation of Judge Hunter.
Pridemore also alleged that Hunter backdated the entries in an attempt to prevent prosecutor Joe Deters
office from overruling her decision in the D.M. and the A.C. cases. But, now that it is clear that Hunter
did not backdate the documents and one of Hunters significant rulings were in fact deleted from the
system, the lingering question is why was the prosecutors office so concerned with insuring that these
particular decisions got overturned?
Anxious to appeal Hunters decisions in both cases, Prosecutor Deters office appealed Hunters rulings
before they became final appealable orders. At issue in both the D.M. and A.C. cases is a childs
constitutional right to discovery evidence, prior to a bindover probable case hearing. Hunter ordered the
defense attorney to provide these forms for in-camera inspection to protect the rights of accused children,
however the prosecutors office refused to turn over the discovery, which included the full Arrest and
Investigation Report (Form 527), and the Incident Report (Form 301).
In the D.M. case, the Ohio Supreme Court upheld Hunters ruling that all discovery evidence must be
turned over and an in-camera inspection may be conducted if prosecutors believe any information in the
reports would need to be redacted. The ruling affirming Hunters decision to turn over police reports is
now law in all courts across Ohio.
While it appears that these charges were maliciously and vindictively brought against Hunter, it is
important to note that the D.M. and A.C. cases may also be a cause for sore blood. These cases changed
Ohio law and forces prosecutors to provide information to defense that enables a child to better defend
themselves.
The accusation that Hunter committed crimes may have been the perfect smoke screen to distract the
public from learning of the real crimes committed by Ms. Murdock, who acting as an agent for Deters
office ordered the backdating of documents and the change of Hunters judicial rulings. Removing
Hunter from the bench served to prevent her from digging deeper into why the prosecution refused to
submit the discovery evidence, and from learning why the prosecutor was so determined to overturn these
two rulings.
Bishop Bobby Hilton is calling for a massive protest rally and press conference on Hamilton County
courthouse steps at noon on Monday, September 29th. Prosecutor Joe Deters office handled the Hunter
case and also acted as special prosecutors in handling the grand jury proceedings in the homicide of
John Crawford, who was gunned down by the officer while he was holding a toy gun he intended to
purchase at the Walmart store in Beavercreak, Ohio.
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(1121 words, incl. title)
Vanessa Enoch, Ph.D. student, Union Institute & University
You Got the Power, Inc.
(513) 549-4622
http://yougotthepower.com