Activist Coleman Files Affidavit of Prejudice Against Retired Visiting Berea Judge Michael Weigand For Determination By Judge Nancy Fuerst
Democratic Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Administrative and Presiding Judge Nancy Fuerst. Via state law Fuerst, as presiding judge of the common pleas court in the county, decides whether municipal court judges should be replaced with other sitting judges on criminal, civil and other cases after parties file affidavits of prejudice. Data show that Fuerst often denies valid prejudice affidavits filed by Blacks and others to allegedly cover up malfeasance for her judicial colleagues. And in most if not all instances of when Fuerst denies a prejudice affidavit, she does so before the judge complained about can even respond in writing to the complaint, activity that suggest a preconceived bias against the complaining party.
From the Metro Desk of the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE CLEVELAND FBI civilrights.cv@ic.fbi.gov
Longtime Journalist and Community Activist Kathy Wray Coleman has filed an Affidavit of Prejudice to seek the removal from a malicious prosecution case in Berea Municipal Court of recruited Retired Barberton, Oh. Visiting Berea Municipal Court Judge Michael Weingand.
The prejudice affidavit, which by state law will be determined by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Presiding Judge Nancy Fuerst, says that Weigand was assigned by the Ohio Supreme Court to harass Coleman for her journalist writings and her community activism around various issues such as The Imperial Ave Murders and House Bill 216, proposed legislation by State Rep. Bill Patmon (D-10), a Cleveland Democrat, that would require that Ohio trial Court judges are assigned at random rather than handpicked like Weigand to harass outspoken Democrats, community activists, and others that challenge a racist and corrupt legal system that some say is detrimental to the Black community specifically, and the larger Ohio community in general.
Coleman, who is Black, says that Fuerst almost always denies valid affidavits of prejudice in an an alleged effort to cover up malfeasance by her judicial colleagues, mainly White ones that apparently believe that the U.S. Constitution, the Ohio Revised Code, the Ohio Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure, the Ohio Rules of Evidence, relevant case law and other authorities are not applicable to Black people, Whites the system considers outspoken, and others they they want to destroy.
And in most if not all instances of when Fuerst denies a prejudice affidavit, she does so before the judge complained about can even respond in writing to the complaint, activity that suggest a preconceived bias against the complaining party.
In the Berea case Coleman is charged in Berea Municipal Court with a traffic citation and misdemeanor obstruction of official business allegedly for weaving and not giving her name to Middleburg Hts police on Oct 30, 2009 after police pulled the car over, though she was a passenger and her then attorney, Wayne Kerek, was in the driver's seat with an expired driver's license and did not even get cited. She says the charge and traffic citation are all lies, though she has been denied an arraignment, the opportunity to make a plea, a jury trial, and numerous other required constitutional guarantees.
Coleman says that Kerek, who was suspended from the practice of law last year and some of this year, lured her to the city of Middleburg Hts that he lived close by to in Strongsville, Oh. and allegedly contacted Middleburg Hts policeman Kevin Hoover to come arrest her in an unsuccessful effort to try to stop her from leading a protest on Nov. 10, 2009 at the county Justice Center over the murders of 11 Black women, whose remains were uncovered at the home of Sowell on Imperial Ave in Cleveland a week and a half earlier on Halloween day.
Data reveal that Berea Municipal Court Judge Mark Comstock snatched the case before it could go to the Middleburg Hts Mayor's Court as required by city ordinance and after refusing a motion to dismiss for a lack of jurisdiction, issued a warrant for Coleman's arrest. The warrant was issued while a meritorious affidavit of prejudice was pending before Fuerst where Comstock violated state law, specifically the provision that precludes substantive rulings until Fuerst rules on an initial affidavit, activity that could bring a suspension if Coleman were to complain to the Ohio Supreme Court Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
After Fuerst denied the prejudice affidavit without even a response from Comstock, he then recused himself and the Ohio Supreme Court illegally assigned former Toledo Municipal Court Judge Mary Trimboli of Toledo, Oh., to hear the case.
Fuerst also denied a valid affidavit of prejudice filed against Trimboli, again without a response from the judge complained about and in retaliation Trimboli illegal $6,000 bond against Coleman, that was put up, after trying to force Coleman to trial without an arraignment, pleas in the case, any pretrials, no discovery and absolutely no jurisdiction to hear the malicious case whatsoever. Trimboli quit the case after Coleman advised that former judges cannot serve as vising judges where the Ohio Constitution mandates only retired judges. She then removed Coleman's then attorney, Stephen Miles, so that subsequent harassment of the Black activist and long term journalist would go more smoothly.
Meanwhile, Comstock contacted the Ohio Supreme Court via letter and begged Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, a Republican, to help him harass Coleman saying he had recused himself but that Coleman should be taken to trial after her attorney had been removed days earlier and without an arraignment, pleas in the case, no discovery, the ignoring of her request for a jury trial, and absolutely no jurisdiction by the Berea Municipal Court to hear the case in the absence of an initial arraignment at the Middleburg Hts's Mayors Court as required by the Middleburg Hts municipal ordinance. Comstock had jailed Coleman before recusing himself from the case, bringing her before him in handcuffs and a jail jumpsuit to tell her on record to stop pushing for legislation that would require that the Ohio Supreme Court stop handpicking trial court judges for cases and assign them by random draw, though Coleman responded that judges should be sitting judges assigned at random and accountable to the community and that community activists object to out-of-town rent-a-judges whose major objective is often to fix cases for the establishment.
After Trimboli, the Republican led Ohio Supreme Court assigned former Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Mabel Jasper, who told Coleman by telephone the night of May 18, 2011 that she would not take the case, that a new judge would be assigned and that she did not have to appear because no trial could be held, particularly since her attorney of record had been removed from the case less than a week earlier. But the next day, on May 19, Comstock had court employees backdate the docket to suggest that the Ohio Supreme Court had appointed Weigant a day before by telephone.
Weigand then issued an illegal warrant saying Coleman did not appear at court on May 19 to be tried without an attorney, an arraignment, any discovery, pleas in the case or jurisdiction to even hear it. This was in part because Coleman led a rally later that day in front of the Cleveland Hts Police Station as to malfeasance there around the Imperial Ave. Murders. Weigand then had Coleman arrested on June 28. And because he could not forfeit the $6,000 bond put up by Atlas Bonding Company and Coleman's father, Dr. James M. Coleman, he just left it on the docket, held Coleman in a jail cell for 3 days and then said that she needed to post a $15 thousand bond.
First the illegal $15 thousand bond provided for cash or surety, the latter of which means a home and other amenities that qualify can be put up, but after Comstock allegedly told Weigand to revise it, he then removed the surety bond provision and required 10 percent cash or $15 hundred dollars, all while the previously paid $6 thousand bond was still pending. This, said Coleman, is prejudicial, and amounts to false imprisonment, kidnapping and hostage type activity of a political prisoner and is designed, she adds, to attempt to silence free speech on pertinent issues of public concern, like judicial corruption.
Weigand then set trial for July 20 without jurisdiction, an arraignment, any pleas in the case and no discovery where Middleburg Hts Prosecutor Peter Hull has refused to comply with previous discovery request by Miles on Coleman's behalf. Coleman is out on bail relative to Middleburg Hts case that is pending in Berea Municipal Court.
Read the meritorious Affidavit of Prejudice against Weigand below and you decide if Judge Fuerst should deny it because Coleman is a Black activist and journalist and Weigand is corrupt, White, male, and a recruit from an away city whose job is to disregard the law to try to convict and jail this Black woman by any means necessary so that judicial corruption can continue to flourish without any sound opposition.
____________________________________________________________________________________
AFFIDAVIT OF PREJUDICE
IN THE BEREA MUNICIPAL COURT, BEREA OHIO
For her Affidavit of Prejudice and/or Disqualification of the Honorable Retired Barberton Oh. Visiting Berea Municipal Court Judge Michael Weigand per R.C. 2701.031, Affiant Kathy W. Coleman, a maliciously prosecuted Black defendant in the above captioned criminal matter due to her journalist writings and community activism, having been duly sworn and cautioned according to law, does hereby depose and state that:
1.) Affiant Kathy W. Coleman (hereinafter “Affiant,” “Affiant Coleman ,” or “Coleman” ) has direct knowledge of the matters set forth herein accept as indicated infra. Affiant is a Black female currently residing in University Hts, Cuyahoga County Ohio. She is a defendant in the criminal matter currently pending before Respondent Michael Weigant (hereinafter “Respondent,” “ Weigand,” or “ Retired Judge Michael Weigand”) and styled The City of Middleburg Hts vs. Kathy W. Coleman, Case Nos. 2009 CRB 01545 and 2009 TRD 05863. Coleman is a former biology teacher of 15 years , a former freelance journalist of 16 years at Cleveland's Call and Post Newspaper, and is now the editor of The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog. Com (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com). She holds a bachelor's degree in biological science, two master's degrees and straight A's as to a doctoral program at The University of Akron where she was admitted under a full tuition scholarship, has completed all coursework and passed all comprehensive exams, and was inducted into the prestigious Pi Lambda Theta International Honor Society.
2.) The next hearing before Respondent Michael Weigand is a trial date on the bogus misdemeanor charge of obstruction of official business and a traffic citation of improper lane change set for July 20, 2011, though Respondent Weigand has no jurisdiction to even hear the case where by city ordinance Middleburg Hts cases that include a traffic citation are to originate in the Middlebug Hts Mayor's Court and only proceed to the Berea Municipal Court under Berea Municipal Court Judge Mark Comstock after a plea of not guilty is made, though Comstock routinely usurps the jurisdiction of the mayor's court if he has it in for somebody like a Black, a woman or an enemy that he might want to target in alleged retaliation for free speech issues. Respondent Weigand's refusal to dismiss the case upon oral motion at a hearing on June 30, 2011 and upon written motion filed July 8, 2011 due to a lack of jurisdiction is prejudicial, and grounds, among others noted hereinafter, for the granting of the within affidavit of prejudice by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Nancy Fuerst pursuant to R.C. 2701.031. And Respondent must know that he cannot make any orders affecting Affiant's substantial rights while the affidavit is pending where at least two former judges had their law licenses suspended by the Ohio Supreme Court for such prejudicial activity of harassing a party while an affidavit of disqualification or prejudice is pending.
3.) In the Berea case Coleman is charged with a traffic citation and misdemeanor obstruction of official business allegedly for weaving and not giving her name to Middleburg Hts police on Oct 30, 2009,after police pulled the car over, though she was a passenger and her then attorney, Wayne Kerek, was in the driver's seat with an expired driver's license and did not even get cited. The charge and traffic citation are all lies, and Coleman has been denied an arraignment, the opportunity to make a plea, a jury trial, and numerous other required constitutional guarantees. Kerek, who was briefly suspended from the practice of law this and last year, lured Coleman to the city of Middleburg Hts that he lived close by to in Strongsville, Oh. and allegedly contacted Middleburg Hts policeman Kevin Hoover to come arrest Affiant in an unsuccessful effort to try to stop her from leading a protest on Nov. 10, 2009 at the county Justice Center over the murders of 11 Black women, whose remains were uncovered at the home of Alleged Serial Killer Anthony Sowell on Imperial Ave in Cleveland a week and a half earlier on Halloween day.
4.) Data reveal that Comstock snatched the case before it could go to the Middleburg Hts Mayor's Court as required by city ordinance and after refusing a motion to dismiss for a lack of jurisdiction, issued a warrant for Coleman's arrest while an affidavit of prejudice was pending before Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Presiding Judge Nancy Fuerst. He then recused himself and the Ohio Supreme Court illegally assigned former Toledo Municipal Court Judge Mary Trimboli of Toledo, Oh. to hear the case. A valid affidavit of prejudice was denied against her too and Trimboli issued an illegal $6,000 bond against Coleman, that was put up, after trying to force her to trial without an arraignment, pleas in the case, any pretrials, no discovery and absolutely no jurisdiction to hear the malicious case whatsoever. Trimboli quit the case after Coleman advised that former judges cannot serve as vising judges where the Ohio Constitution mandates only retired judges. Trimboli then removed from the case, Coleman's then attorney , Stephen Miles, so that subsequent harassment of the Black activist and long term journalist would go more smoothly.
5.) After Trimboli, the Republican led Ohio Supreme Court assigned former Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Mabel Jasper, who told Coleman by telephone the night of May 18, 2011 that she would not take the case, and that a new judge would be assigned and that she did not have to appear because no trial could be held, particularly since her attorney of record had been removed from the case less than a week earlier. But the next day, on May 19, Comstock had court employees backdate the docket to suggest that the Ohio Supreme Court had appointed Respondent Weigand a day before by telephone. Respondent Weigand then issued an illegal warrant saying Coleman did not appear at court on May 19 to be tried without an attorney, an arraignment, any discovery, pleas in the case or jurisdiction to even hear it. This was in part because Coleman led a rally later that day in front of the Cleveland Hts Police Station as to malfeasance there around the Imperial Ave. Murders. Weigand then had Coleman arrested on June 28. And because he could not forfeit the $6,000 bond put up by Atlas Bonding Company and Coleman's father, Dr. James M. Coleman, he just left it on the docket, held Coleman in a jail cell for 3 days and then said that she needed to post a $15,000 bond, and he has refused, also by prejudice,a required bond forfeiture hearing . Hence, the arrest is, Coleman believes, false imprisonment, kidnapping and hostage type activity of a political prisoner and is designed allegedly to attempt to silence free speech on pertinent issues of public concern, like judicial corruption.
6.) Respondent Weigand then set trial date of July 20, 2011 without jurisdiction, an arraignment, any pleas in the case and no discovery where Middleburg Hts Prosecutor Peter Hull had refused to comply with previous discovery requests by Miles on Coleman's behalf. And after having an illegal ex parte conversation with Respondent Weingand, 68, Hull told the visiting judge in front of community activists at a hearing June 30, 2011 with Coleman standing in handcuffs that Black people do not have a right to jury trials in the Berea Municipal Court. The ex parte conversation with Hull, which was witnessed by Coleman, the two policemen and others in the courtroom that day was prejudicial in violation of the Ohio Lawyer's Professional Code of Responsibility and the Ohio Judicial Code, and is grounds for Respondent Wegand's immediate removal from this case. And Hull was so arrogant as to walk pass Coleman minutes before the hearing transpired on June 30, 2011 saying that he needed to go speak privately with Respondent Weigand. Respondent Weigand also said, following ex parte conversations with Hull, that he had to pander Coleman's oral request for a jury trial after Hull said that Coleman, who is Black, had no right to a jury trial , though it was made at the hearing and at least 10 days before the scheduled trial date of June 30, 2011 as required via the Local Rules of the Berea Municipal Court. . This too reveals unprecedented prejudice by Judge Weigand against Affiant, a Black woman, and requires his immediate removal from the malicious prosecution case against her.
7.) Also at the hearing of June 30, 2011 Respondent Weigand has ordered no attorney for Affiant Coleman, which means that Affiant has been denied her constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel, another grounds for the granting of the within Affidavit of Prejuduice due to blatant prejudice. (See Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932); Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963).
8.) Affiant Coleman is out on bail relative to Middleburg Hts case that is illegally still pending in the Berea Municipal Court and has been repeatedly threatened to be quiet about the Civil Rights violations, the Imperial Ave. Murders, and to stop pushing for House Bill 216, a bill proposed two months ago by State Rep. Bill Patmon (D-10), a Cleveland Democrat. That proposed legislation, now in committee, requires that Ohio trial court judges are assigned at random rather than handpicked from the Ohio Supreme Court level, and all the way down to the Cleveland Municipal Court, to fix cases, often to the detriment of the community, the Black community in particular, since Blacks are disproportionately prosecuted in Ohio. And such bill, if amended , would preclude the handpicking of retired visiting judges like Respondent Weigand, handpicked and recruited especially to harass Affiant Coleman, with nothing to lose, in violation of the United States Constitution, the Local Rules of the Berea Municipal Court, the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Ohio Judicial Code of Conduct and a host of other authorities.
9.) Respondent Michael Weigand's bias and prejudice in this celebrated case are undoubtedly rooted in his advocacy of Judge Comstock, Middleburg Hts Law Director and Prosecutor Peter Hull, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson as to the Imperial Ave Murders and those angry at Affiant Coleman
due to pending litigation, and her writings an activism, including House Bill 216.
10.) The issues of concern per the Ohio Judicial Code of Conduct and the Ohio Lawyer's Professional Code of Conduct, which are applicable to Respondent as to the affidavit of prejudice herein, include the following: Canon 1 (a judge shall uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary); Canon 3(B)(1) (a judge shall hear and decide matters assigned to the judge except those in which disqualification is required); and Canon 3(B)(2) (a judge shall be faithful to the law and maintain professional competence in it). Further, Respondent Michael Weigand has allegedly violated DR 1-102(A)(5) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice).
11.) Respondent's action's in the Coleman matter warrant his immediate disqualification (See In re Disqualification of Cleary (2000), 88 Ohio St.3d 1220, 1222-1223, 723 N.E.2d 1106). Undoubtedly, it is of vital importance that the defendant or litigant believes that he or she will be treated fairly during the course of the proceedings, particularly by the judge that is presiding over the matter. (See State ex rel. Turner v. Marshall (1931), 123 Ohio St. 586, 587, 176 N.E. 454). And even if bias might be found questionable, though it is clearly evident relative to the case sub judice, the public discourse and activity by Respondent Michael Weigand make any further proceedings under his leadership questionable and would erode the public's trust as to judicial proceedings in the Berea Municipal Court. (See In re Disqualification of Saffold (2010)Case No. 10-AP-041).
12.) That the instant affidavit is based upon Affiant's true belief that Retired Visiting Berea Municipal Court Judge Michael Weigand has acted in a manner that has caused Affiant to question his impartiality and the fairness of the proceedings to warrant his disqualification from 2009 CRB 01545 and 2009 TRD05863, and that the instant affidavit comports with the requirements of R.C. 2701.031 and has not been made for purposes of delay.
Wherefore, Affiant Kathy W. Coleman respectfully urges the immediate disqualification of the Honorable Respondent Retired Visiting Berea Municipal Court Judge Michael Weingand in The City of Middleburg Hts. vs Kathy W. Coleman
FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT.
________________________________________
Kathy W. Coleman, Affiant
3901 Silsby Road
University Hts., Ohio 44118
Telephone: 216-932-3114
Sworn to and subscribed in my presence this 13th day of July, 2011.
_____________________
Notary Public
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
A copy of the foregoing Affidavit of Prejudice/ and or Disqualification against Retired Visiting Berea Municipal Court Judge Michael Weingand , per R.C. 2701.031, has been sent either by facsimile or regular U.S. Mail, postage prepaid, to Middleburg Hts Prosecutor Peter Hull, 15700 Bagley Road, Middle Hts, Oh 44130, and to the Berea Municipal Court, 11 Berea Commons, Berea Ohio, 44107, by regular U.S. Mail, this 13th day of July, 2011
________________________________
Kathy W. Coleman, Affiant
Journalist and Community Activist Kathy Wray Coleman can be reached at 216-932-3114 and ktcoleman8@aol.com.
From the Metro Desk of the Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog.Com (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com)
TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION OF THE CLEVELAND FBI civilrights.cv@ic.fbi.gov
Longtime Journalist and Community Activist Kathy Wray Coleman has filed an Affidavit of Prejudice to seek the removal from a malicious prosecution case in Berea Municipal Court of recruited Retired Barberton, Oh. Visiting Berea Municipal Court Judge Michael Weingand.
The prejudice affidavit, which by state law will be determined by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Presiding Judge Nancy Fuerst, says that Weigand was assigned by the Ohio Supreme Court to harass Coleman for her journalist writings and her community activism around various issues such as The Imperial Ave Murders and House Bill 216, proposed legislation by State Rep. Bill Patmon (D-10), a Cleveland Democrat, that would require that Ohio trial Court judges are assigned at random rather than handpicked like Weigand to harass outspoken Democrats, community activists, and others that challenge a racist and corrupt legal system that some say is detrimental to the Black community specifically, and the larger Ohio community in general.
Coleman, who is Black, says that Fuerst almost always denies valid affidavits of prejudice in an an alleged effort to cover up malfeasance by her judicial colleagues, mainly White ones that apparently believe that the U.S. Constitution, the Ohio Revised Code, the Ohio Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure, the Ohio Rules of Evidence, relevant case law and other authorities are not applicable to Black people, Whites the system considers outspoken, and others they they want to destroy.
And in most if not all instances of when Fuerst denies a prejudice affidavit, she does so before the judge complained about can even respond in writing to the complaint, activity that suggest a preconceived bias against the complaining party.
In the Berea case Coleman is charged in Berea Municipal Court with a traffic citation and misdemeanor obstruction of official business allegedly for weaving and not giving her name to Middleburg Hts police on Oct 30, 2009 after police pulled the car over, though she was a passenger and her then attorney, Wayne Kerek, was in the driver's seat with an expired driver's license and did not even get cited. She says the charge and traffic citation are all lies, though she has been denied an arraignment, the opportunity to make a plea, a jury trial, and numerous other required constitutional guarantees.
Coleman says that Kerek, who was suspended from the practice of law last year and some of this year, lured her to the city of Middleburg Hts that he lived close by to in Strongsville, Oh. and allegedly contacted Middleburg Hts policeman Kevin Hoover to come arrest her in an unsuccessful effort to try to stop her from leading a protest on Nov. 10, 2009 at the county Justice Center over the murders of 11 Black women, whose remains were uncovered at the home of Sowell on Imperial Ave in Cleveland a week and a half earlier on Halloween day.
Data reveal that Berea Municipal Court Judge Mark Comstock snatched the case before it could go to the Middleburg Hts Mayor's Court as required by city ordinance and after refusing a motion to dismiss for a lack of jurisdiction, issued a warrant for Coleman's arrest. The warrant was issued while a meritorious affidavit of prejudice was pending before Fuerst where Comstock violated state law, specifically the provision that precludes substantive rulings until Fuerst rules on an initial affidavit, activity that could bring a suspension if Coleman were to complain to the Ohio Supreme Court Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
After Fuerst denied the prejudice affidavit without even a response from Comstock, he then recused himself and the Ohio Supreme Court illegally assigned former Toledo Municipal Court Judge Mary Trimboli of Toledo, Oh., to hear the case.
Fuerst also denied a valid affidavit of prejudice filed against Trimboli, again without a response from the judge complained about and in retaliation Trimboli illegal $6,000 bond against Coleman, that was put up, after trying to force Coleman to trial without an arraignment, pleas in the case, any pretrials, no discovery and absolutely no jurisdiction to hear the malicious case whatsoever. Trimboli quit the case after Coleman advised that former judges cannot serve as vising judges where the Ohio Constitution mandates only retired judges. She then removed Coleman's then attorney, Stephen Miles, so that subsequent harassment of the Black activist and long term journalist would go more smoothly.
Meanwhile, Comstock contacted the Ohio Supreme Court via letter and begged Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, a Republican, to help him harass Coleman saying he had recused himself but that Coleman should be taken to trial after her attorney had been removed days earlier and without an arraignment, pleas in the case, no discovery, the ignoring of her request for a jury trial, and absolutely no jurisdiction by the Berea Municipal Court to hear the case in the absence of an initial arraignment at the Middleburg Hts's Mayors Court as required by the Middleburg Hts municipal ordinance. Comstock had jailed Coleman before recusing himself from the case, bringing her before him in handcuffs and a jail jumpsuit to tell her on record to stop pushing for legislation that would require that the Ohio Supreme Court stop handpicking trial court judges for cases and assign them by random draw, though Coleman responded that judges should be sitting judges assigned at random and accountable to the community and that community activists object to out-of-town rent-a-judges whose major objective is often to fix cases for the establishment.
After Trimboli, the Republican led Ohio Supreme Court assigned former Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Mabel Jasper, who told Coleman by telephone the night of May 18, 2011 that she would not take the case, that a new judge would be assigned and that she did not have to appear because no trial could be held, particularly since her attorney of record had been removed from the case less than a week earlier. But the next day, on May 19, Comstock had court employees backdate the docket to suggest that the Ohio Supreme Court had appointed Weigant a day before by telephone.
Weigand then issued an illegal warrant saying Coleman did not appear at court on May 19 to be tried without an attorney, an arraignment, any discovery, pleas in the case or jurisdiction to even hear it. This was in part because Coleman led a rally later that day in front of the Cleveland Hts Police Station as to malfeasance there around the Imperial Ave. Murders. Weigand then had Coleman arrested on June 28. And because he could not forfeit the $6,000 bond put up by Atlas Bonding Company and Coleman's father, Dr. James M. Coleman, he just left it on the docket, held Coleman in a jail cell for 3 days and then said that she needed to post a $15 thousand bond.
First the illegal $15 thousand bond provided for cash or surety, the latter of which means a home and other amenities that qualify can be put up, but after Comstock allegedly told Weigand to revise it, he then removed the surety bond provision and required 10 percent cash or $15 hundred dollars, all while the previously paid $6 thousand bond was still pending. This, said Coleman, is prejudicial, and amounts to false imprisonment, kidnapping and hostage type activity of a political prisoner and is designed, she adds, to attempt to silence free speech on pertinent issues of public concern, like judicial corruption.
Weigand then set trial for July 20 without jurisdiction, an arraignment, any pleas in the case and no discovery where Middleburg Hts Prosecutor Peter Hull has refused to comply with previous discovery request by Miles on Coleman's behalf. Coleman is out on bail relative to Middleburg Hts case that is pending in Berea Municipal Court.
Read the meritorious Affidavit of Prejudice against Weigand below and you decide if Judge Fuerst should deny it because Coleman is a Black activist and journalist and Weigand is corrupt, White, male, and a recruit from an away city whose job is to disregard the law to try to convict and jail this Black woman by any means necessary so that judicial corruption can continue to flourish without any sound opposition.
____________________________________________________________________________________
AFFIDAVIT OF PREJUDICE
IN THE BEREA MUNICIPAL COURT, BEREA OHIO
For her Affidavit of Prejudice and/or Disqualification of the Honorable Retired Barberton Oh. Visiting Berea Municipal Court Judge Michael Weigand per R.C. 2701.031, Affiant Kathy W. Coleman, a maliciously prosecuted Black defendant in the above captioned criminal matter due to her journalist writings and community activism, having been duly sworn and cautioned according to law, does hereby depose and state that:
1.) Affiant Kathy W. Coleman (hereinafter “Affiant,” “Affiant Coleman ,” or “Coleman” ) has direct knowledge of the matters set forth herein accept as indicated infra. Affiant is a Black female currently residing in University Hts, Cuyahoga County Ohio. She is a defendant in the criminal matter currently pending before Respondent Michael Weigant (hereinafter “Respondent,” “ Weigand,” or “ Retired Judge Michael Weigand”) and styled The City of Middleburg Hts vs. Kathy W. Coleman, Case Nos. 2009 CRB 01545 and 2009 TRD 05863. Coleman is a former biology teacher of 15 years , a former freelance journalist of 16 years at Cleveland's Call and Post Newspaper, and is now the editor of The Kathy Wray Coleman Online News Blog. Com (www.kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com). She holds a bachelor's degree in biological science, two master's degrees and straight A's as to a doctoral program at The University of Akron where she was admitted under a full tuition scholarship, has completed all coursework and passed all comprehensive exams, and was inducted into the prestigious Pi Lambda Theta International Honor Society.
2.) The next hearing before Respondent Michael Weigand is a trial date on the bogus misdemeanor charge of obstruction of official business and a traffic citation of improper lane change set for July 20, 2011, though Respondent Weigand has no jurisdiction to even hear the case where by city ordinance Middleburg Hts cases that include a traffic citation are to originate in the Middlebug Hts Mayor's Court and only proceed to the Berea Municipal Court under Berea Municipal Court Judge Mark Comstock after a plea of not guilty is made, though Comstock routinely usurps the jurisdiction of the mayor's court if he has it in for somebody like a Black, a woman or an enemy that he might want to target in alleged retaliation for free speech issues. Respondent Weigand's refusal to dismiss the case upon oral motion at a hearing on June 30, 2011 and upon written motion filed July 8, 2011 due to a lack of jurisdiction is prejudicial, and grounds, among others noted hereinafter, for the granting of the within affidavit of prejudice by Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Nancy Fuerst pursuant to R.C. 2701.031. And Respondent must know that he cannot make any orders affecting Affiant's substantial rights while the affidavit is pending where at least two former judges had their law licenses suspended by the Ohio Supreme Court for such prejudicial activity of harassing a party while an affidavit of disqualification or prejudice is pending.
3.) In the Berea case Coleman is charged with a traffic citation and misdemeanor obstruction of official business allegedly for weaving and not giving her name to Middleburg Hts police on Oct 30, 2009,after police pulled the car over, though she was a passenger and her then attorney, Wayne Kerek, was in the driver's seat with an expired driver's license and did not even get cited. The charge and traffic citation are all lies, and Coleman has been denied an arraignment, the opportunity to make a plea, a jury trial, and numerous other required constitutional guarantees. Kerek, who was briefly suspended from the practice of law this and last year, lured Coleman to the city of Middleburg Hts that he lived close by to in Strongsville, Oh. and allegedly contacted Middleburg Hts policeman Kevin Hoover to come arrest Affiant in an unsuccessful effort to try to stop her from leading a protest on Nov. 10, 2009 at the county Justice Center over the murders of 11 Black women, whose remains were uncovered at the home of Alleged Serial Killer Anthony Sowell on Imperial Ave in Cleveland a week and a half earlier on Halloween day.
4.) Data reveal that Comstock snatched the case before it could go to the Middleburg Hts Mayor's Court as required by city ordinance and after refusing a motion to dismiss for a lack of jurisdiction, issued a warrant for Coleman's arrest while an affidavit of prejudice was pending before Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Presiding Judge Nancy Fuerst. He then recused himself and the Ohio Supreme Court illegally assigned former Toledo Municipal Court Judge Mary Trimboli of Toledo, Oh. to hear the case. A valid affidavit of prejudice was denied against her too and Trimboli issued an illegal $6,000 bond against Coleman, that was put up, after trying to force her to trial without an arraignment, pleas in the case, any pretrials, no discovery and absolutely no jurisdiction to hear the malicious case whatsoever. Trimboli quit the case after Coleman advised that former judges cannot serve as vising judges where the Ohio Constitution mandates only retired judges. Trimboli then removed from the case, Coleman's then attorney , Stephen Miles, so that subsequent harassment of the Black activist and long term journalist would go more smoothly.
5.) After Trimboli, the Republican led Ohio Supreme Court assigned former Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Mabel Jasper, who told Coleman by telephone the night of May 18, 2011 that she would not take the case, and that a new judge would be assigned and that she did not have to appear because no trial could be held, particularly since her attorney of record had been removed from the case less than a week earlier. But the next day, on May 19, Comstock had court employees backdate the docket to suggest that the Ohio Supreme Court had appointed Respondent Weigand a day before by telephone. Respondent Weigand then issued an illegal warrant saying Coleman did not appear at court on May 19 to be tried without an attorney, an arraignment, any discovery, pleas in the case or jurisdiction to even hear it. This was in part because Coleman led a rally later that day in front of the Cleveland Hts Police Station as to malfeasance there around the Imperial Ave. Murders. Weigand then had Coleman arrested on June 28. And because he could not forfeit the $6,000 bond put up by Atlas Bonding Company and Coleman's father, Dr. James M. Coleman, he just left it on the docket, held Coleman in a jail cell for 3 days and then said that she needed to post a $15,000 bond, and he has refused, also by prejudice,a required bond forfeiture hearing . Hence, the arrest is, Coleman believes, false imprisonment, kidnapping and hostage type activity of a political prisoner and is designed allegedly to attempt to silence free speech on pertinent issues of public concern, like judicial corruption.
6.) Respondent Weigand then set trial date of July 20, 2011 without jurisdiction, an arraignment, any pleas in the case and no discovery where Middleburg Hts Prosecutor Peter Hull had refused to comply with previous discovery requests by Miles on Coleman's behalf. And after having an illegal ex parte conversation with Respondent Weingand, 68, Hull told the visiting judge in front of community activists at a hearing June 30, 2011 with Coleman standing in handcuffs that Black people do not have a right to jury trials in the Berea Municipal Court. The ex parte conversation with Hull, which was witnessed by Coleman, the two policemen and others in the courtroom that day was prejudicial in violation of the Ohio Lawyer's Professional Code of Responsibility and the Ohio Judicial Code, and is grounds for Respondent Wegand's immediate removal from this case. And Hull was so arrogant as to walk pass Coleman minutes before the hearing transpired on June 30, 2011 saying that he needed to go speak privately with Respondent Weigand. Respondent Weigand also said, following ex parte conversations with Hull, that he had to pander Coleman's oral request for a jury trial after Hull said that Coleman, who is Black, had no right to a jury trial , though it was made at the hearing and at least 10 days before the scheduled trial date of June 30, 2011 as required via the Local Rules of the Berea Municipal Court. . This too reveals unprecedented prejudice by Judge Weigand against Affiant, a Black woman, and requires his immediate removal from the malicious prosecution case against her.
7.) Also at the hearing of June 30, 2011 Respondent Weigand has ordered no attorney for Affiant Coleman, which means that Affiant has been denied her constitutional right to effective assistance of counsel, another grounds for the granting of the within Affidavit of Prejuduice due to blatant prejudice. (See Powell v. Alabama, 287 U.S. 45 (1932); Gideon v. Wainwright, 372 U.S. 335 (1963).
8.) Affiant Coleman is out on bail relative to Middleburg Hts case that is illegally still pending in the Berea Municipal Court and has been repeatedly threatened to be quiet about the Civil Rights violations, the Imperial Ave. Murders, and to stop pushing for House Bill 216, a bill proposed two months ago by State Rep. Bill Patmon (D-10), a Cleveland Democrat. That proposed legislation, now in committee, requires that Ohio trial court judges are assigned at random rather than handpicked from the Ohio Supreme Court level, and all the way down to the Cleveland Municipal Court, to fix cases, often to the detriment of the community, the Black community in particular, since Blacks are disproportionately prosecuted in Ohio. And such bill, if amended , would preclude the handpicking of retired visiting judges like Respondent Weigand, handpicked and recruited especially to harass Affiant Coleman, with nothing to lose, in violation of the United States Constitution, the Local Rules of the Berea Municipal Court, the Ohio Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Ohio Judicial Code of Conduct and a host of other authorities.
9.) Respondent Michael Weigand's bias and prejudice in this celebrated case are undoubtedly rooted in his advocacy of Judge Comstock, Middleburg Hts Law Director and Prosecutor Peter Hull, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson as to the Imperial Ave Murders and those angry at Affiant Coleman
due to pending litigation, and her writings an activism, including House Bill 216.
10.) The issues of concern per the Ohio Judicial Code of Conduct and the Ohio Lawyer's Professional Code of Conduct, which are applicable to Respondent as to the affidavit of prejudice herein, include the following: Canon 1 (a judge shall uphold the integrity and independence of the judiciary); Canon 3(B)(1) (a judge shall hear and decide matters assigned to the judge except those in which disqualification is required); and Canon 3(B)(2) (a judge shall be faithful to the law and maintain professional competence in it). Further, Respondent Michael Weigand has allegedly violated DR 1-102(A)(5) (a lawyer shall not engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice).
11.) Respondent's action's in the Coleman matter warrant his immediate disqualification (See In re Disqualification of Cleary (2000), 88 Ohio St.3d 1220, 1222-1223, 723 N.E.2d 1106). Undoubtedly, it is of vital importance that the defendant or litigant believes that he or she will be treated fairly during the course of the proceedings, particularly by the judge that is presiding over the matter. (See State ex rel. Turner v. Marshall (1931), 123 Ohio St. 586, 587, 176 N.E. 454). And even if bias might be found questionable, though it is clearly evident relative to the case sub judice, the public discourse and activity by Respondent Michael Weigand make any further proceedings under his leadership questionable and would erode the public's trust as to judicial proceedings in the Berea Municipal Court. (See In re Disqualification of Saffold (2010)Case No. 10-AP-041).
12.) That the instant affidavit is based upon Affiant's true belief that Retired Visiting Berea Municipal Court Judge Michael Weigand has acted in a manner that has caused Affiant to question his impartiality and the fairness of the proceedings to warrant his disqualification from 2009 CRB 01545 and 2009 TRD05863, and that the instant affidavit comports with the requirements of R.C. 2701.031 and has not been made for purposes of delay.
Wherefore, Affiant Kathy W. Coleman respectfully urges the immediate disqualification of the Honorable Respondent Retired Visiting Berea Municipal Court Judge Michael Weingand in The City of Middleburg Hts. vs Kathy W. Coleman
FURTHER AFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT.
________________________________________
Kathy W. Coleman, Affiant
3901 Silsby Road
University Hts., Ohio 44118
Telephone: 216-932-3114
Sworn to and subscribed in my presence this 13th day of July, 2011.
_____________________
Notary Public
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE
A copy of the foregoing Affidavit of Prejudice/ and or Disqualification against Retired Visiting Berea Municipal Court Judge Michael Weingand , per R.C. 2701.031, has been sent either by facsimile or regular U.S. Mail, postage prepaid, to Middleburg Hts Prosecutor Peter Hull, 15700 Bagley Road, Middle Hts, Oh 44130, and to the Berea Municipal Court, 11 Berea Commons, Berea Ohio, 44107, by regular U.S. Mail, this 13th day of July, 2011
________________________________
Kathy W. Coleman, Affiant
Journalist and Community Activist Kathy Wray Coleman can be reached at 216-932-3114 and ktcoleman8@aol.com.
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