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Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty From the Metro Desk of the DeterminerWeeklyCom and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network African-American Journalist Kathy Wray Coleman says that she will file an affidavit of prejudice next week against Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty with Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Eric Brown for review and subsequent determination on whether McGinty has the judicial temperament to be fair with respect to a lawsuit before him where she is the plaintiff. State law gives the Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court sole authority to decide affidavits of prejudice filed against Ohio Court of Common Pleas judges. They hear felony criminal cases, lawsuits where damages in excess of $15 thousand are sought, and other legal matters. If Coleman's prejudice affidavit is granted, McGinty will be replaced in the case with another judge. Coleman said that a change of venue to a common pleas court ...

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason Community Activist Art McKoy By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the DeterminerWeekly.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network Though community activist Art McKoy, 66, is still struggling to clear himself and his name of a fifth degree felony charge that accuses him of permitting the sale of cocaine and other drugs in his now defunct Superfly Barbershop in East Cleveland, the cases of the two barbers accused of dealing the alleged drugs are long over. All three were indicted in December of 2008 by a Cuyahoga County Grand Jury following a police raid at the barbershop. McKoy, himself, is not accused of dealing any drugs and has pleaded not guilty to the charge. The potential trial in his case is on hold pending the outcome of appeals relative to an outright fight between prosecutors and McKoy's attorneys on whether the name of the alleged confidential informant for the prosecution should be produced either before or during ...

College Student Rebecca Whitby Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Kathleen Sutula Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Stuart Friedman By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the DeterminerWeekly.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network After vowing on record last week that he is not a racist, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Stuart Friedman stopped jury selection and recused himself from a controversial criminal case where a Black female Cuyahoga Community College student is on trial charged with assaulting two White male Cleveland police officers. The officers have been tagged by an elderly White neighbor, scheduled to testify for the defense at trial, as unnecessarily tasing and beating the girl, and calling her a "nigger" via an arrest last year at her parents then home in Cleveland's racially mixed Collinwood neighborhood where tensions with the majority White Fifth District police traditionally run high. Among other charg...

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Dick Ambrose Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold Suspected Serial Killer of 11 Black Women Anthony Sowell .bp.blogspot.com/__tzSBuE4o9k/S_T7HCR8XGI/AAAAAAAAAqg/KcAx7a7FS3s/s1600/anthony-sowell-pic-ap-560156883.jpg"> By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the Determiner Weekly.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network A partial gag order has been issued in the Anthony Sowell capital murder case by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Dick Ambrose who last month replaced Cuyahoga Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold after then Acting Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Pfeifer removed her from the case due allegedly to negative publicity. By striking contrast, Strickland Saffold is a Black Democrat, and Ambrose, a moderate White Republican. Sowell is in custody and charged with several counts of aggravated murder and other criminal infractions after the remains of 11 Black women ...

Cleveland Ward 11 Councilman Michael Polensek College Student and Community Activist Caleb Maupin Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson Cleveland Schools CEO Dr. Eugene Sanders By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the DeterminerWeekly.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network A video of what members of the Black and grassroots communities are calling a brutal arrest by Cleveland police of two Black female Cleveland schools students engaged last week in a student protest over teacher layoffs and school closings has gotten over 9,000 hits under the title "Cleveland Police Brutalize Student Protesters" on the popular YouTube Website, a venue where ordinary people and the rich and famous upload videos, movies and other media paraphernalia for Internet viewers. And the fight continues as grassroots leaders schedule a meeting this evening at 6 pm at the Collinwood Public Library in Cleveland in preparation of demanding that the criminal charges brought against the girls...

Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge (D-11) From the Metro Desk of the DeterminerWeekly.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-11), who represents parts of the City of Cleveland and its eastern suburbs, sent a press release in support of those impacted by the explosion yesterday of a house near the intersection of East 177th St. and Federal Drive in Cleveland's predominantly Black Ward 1 neighborhood. Ward 1 is Cleveland's strongest Black neighborhood with its segment of staunch middle class residents and a thick senior citizens venue that sleeps on nothing and will hold area politicians accountable. Though no people died including those living in the house that exploded, four nearby homes were destroyed, a dog died, and 11 people suffered what has been reported as minor injuries. No ruling on the explosion has been made and it is under investigation for possible arson. If anyone has information on this issue they should contact ...

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold From the Metro Desk of the DeterminerWeekly.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network A Cleveland Plain Dealer article published yesterday details delinquent parking and camera ticket fines issued by the City of Cleveland and allegedly owed by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold, who some Blacks say is being harassed by the newspaper in retaliation for a $50 million lawsuit alleging privacy violations that she filed last month against the newspaper, its editor Susan Goldberg, and a host of other newspaper affiliates. The biased article says the judge owes a total of $1 thousand in combined parking and camera infraction tickets and that her car can be towed. It goes on to quote the spokesperson for Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson on the issue. "It is our expectation that people meet their obligations, that there are consequences for failure to pay, and that we enc...

U.S. President Barack Obama Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the DeterminerWeekly.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network White House Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes and Special Assistant to the President for Afghanistan and Pakistan Lieutenant General Douglas Lute held a teleconference with reporters today to discuss the upcoming visit of the President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, to Washington on Monday. In March, President Barack Obama visited the war zone of Kabul, Afghanistan exhibiting no praise for Karzai and speaking publicly in a solemn tone as he sought cooperation by Karzai and his leadership team in bringing the current war that began there in 2001 as to U.S. affiliation to a legitimate close. Hence, Karzai's upcoming visit to the U.S. is viewed by some as a cooperative mission. "We have a very broad cooperation across our governments," Rhodes told the DeterminerWeekly.Com and the Kathy ...

Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the DeterminerWeekly.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network Outgoing Acting Supreme Court Chief Justice Paul Pfeifer, on April 21, assigned retired Hardin County Common Pleas Judge David Faulkner to hear the lawsuit filed in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas by Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold and her daughter Sydney Saffold against the Cleveland Plain Dealer Newspaper, its editor Susan Goldberg, and a host of other defendants. Though state law permits a retired judge to replace an Ohio Common Pleas judge in a case of conflict or bias lawyers have said the process violates the Ohio Constitution, which mandates retirement of Ohio judges at either age 70 or upon completion of a term if 70 or older. Former Ohio Supreme Court Republican Chief Justice Thomas Moyer, who died early last month, routinely assigned retired judges ...

By Kathy Wray Coleman, Editor of the DeterminerWeekly.Com and the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog and Media Network Plain Dealer Editor Susan Goldberg Bill Patmon John E. Barnes Jr. Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Bridget McCafferty Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Kathleen Ann Keough Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Timothy McGinty For the most part, expected winners won, and three judges accused of impropriety swept through the May 4 Democratic primary, one unopposed, another winning by a landslide, and a third barely getting by another sitting judge who was also seeking a higher judgeship. Regardless, some voters contend that the three judicial primary victories at issue are a byproduct of a sleeping and uninformed electorate, in addition to a corrupt media and bar associations affiliates that trade favors for endorsements. "When judges accused of corruption win either reelection or are elevated to a higher judgeship i...

Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas Moyer From the Media Venue of the Ohio Supreme Court (Edited Version) Some 700 Guests attended a memorial tribute on Saturday to honor the memory of the late Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer. More than 700 colleagues, friends and family, including about 150 judges, attended the event on Law Day at the judge's beloved Ohio State University. The ceremony included a procession of robed judges from the federal bench, Ohio courts and out-of-state courts led by the pipes and drums auxiliary corps of the Cleveland Police. In recognizing Moyer’s significant contributions in a remarkable life dedicated to civility, public service and the rule of law, each of the six current Justices offered their personal reflections on the Chief Justice. Former Justices and other national and state judicial and legal leaders offered personal tributes in addition to a video tribute. Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee also offered remarks. So...