Common Pleas judges in Cleveland illegally vote to suspend felony jury trials indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic as Black defendants who cannot afford bail remain locked down in a Cuyahoga County jail plagued with COVID-19 and where inmates are dying in droves....More than 15 percent of the county jail inmates are infected with COVID-19....Community activists renew the call for Chief Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Brendan Sheehan to resign....Defendants facing serious charges in Ohio have both a constitutional and a statutory right to a jury trial, and to a speedy trial unless waived in writing.... By Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Led by presiding and administrative Judge Brendan Sheehan, the 34 largely White judges of the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas general division bench in Cleveland, Ohio have arbitrarily voted again to strip applicable Black and other defendants of their statutory and constitutional right to a speedy trial by delaying criminal and civil jury trials, this time indefinitely, and without the consent of the applicable defendants or their attorneys.
Community activists remain upset over the issue, and say it is illegal, and unconstitutional.
The judges previously voted to suspend jury trials until Jan. 19, this too an arbitrary vote that has no legal effect and a decision that followed a prior vote by the judges to delay jury trial until Dec 1.
Bench trials are not affected.
General division common pleas judges in Ohio, by statute, hear felony cases and civil cases where damages are sought above $15,000, among a host of other legal issues.
The judges in Cuyahoga County say the escalating coronavirus pandemic is the reason for the delay in jury trials, though the right to a speedy trial in Ohio, unless waived by a defendant in writing, is a constitutional right under the 6th Amendment of the U.S. constitution, and a statutory right under state law.
In the absence of a speedy trial dismissal of the case with prejudice is a proper recourse.
Meanwhile, Cuyahoga County Jail inmates who cannot afford to post bail and who refuse to agree to a bench trial and want a jury trial instead remain locked down in the Cuyahoga County Jail where over 15 percent of the imamates are infected with the coronavirus, a jail where some 10 inmates have died in the last two year, at least one of them murdered.
In November 2018, U.S. Marshals issued a report deeming the county jail unconstitutional and inhumane-
Stanton is White and has said he will not stand up against the activity, even if it disenfranchises indigent criminal defendants his office represents, most of them Black.
Some Cleveland activists are calling foul.
They want Judge Sheehan to step down as presiding and administrative judge over the court, Sheehan selected as the court's chief judge by his judicial peers on the court.
"Activists call for Chief Common Pleas Judge Brendan Sheehan to step down for misusing his role in this instance," said activist Alfred Porter Jr., president of Black on Black Crime Inc.
Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish has called in the National Guard regarding the COVID-19 problem in the jails but has said he cannot let the inmates out who are being held illegally and denied a speedy trial and a jury trial.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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