A Columbus law firm defending actions by Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Leslie Ghiz to regulate news coverage of the second Ray Tensing murder trial in June has sent a $56,723 bill for its work, an amount that will be borne by county taxpayers.
Normally, the county prosecutor’s office represents county judges in legal matters. But since the office of Prosecutor Joe Deters was already involved in the Tensing trial, the legal work was outsourced to Isaac Wiles Burkholder & Teetor. All three members of the Board of County Commissioners approved the hiring in June.
Ghiz was sued three times in connection with the trial. Several news organizations filed suit before the trial started, complaining about the judge’s ban on cameras and electronic recording devices that are routinely present in Ohio courtrooms. The Cincinnati Enquirer filed subsequent lawsuits for completed juror questionnaires and a transcript of a conversation between Ghiz and jurors during jury deliberations.
“It’s frustrating that the judge refuses to abide by the law and apply the law in a manner that protects the public’s right to know what’s going on in her courtroom,” Enquirer lawyer Jack Greiner said in July.
The first two lawsuits went to the First District Court of Appeals, which issued a ruling in the first and is still considering the second. The third, filed with the Ohio Supreme Court, was withdrawn in July after the transcript of the Ghiz-jury conversation was provided.
On Sept. 26, the Isaac Wiles invoice of $56,723 was sent to Hamilton County Administrator Jeffrey Aluotto for payment.
Almost all of the 248 hours billed by the Isaac Wiles firm were for $200 to $250 per hour. They covered a period ending July 31.
While Isaac Wiles has defended two different Tensing trial judges against media-access complaints, Hamilton County taxpayers were spared the cost of the first occasion but billed for the second.
For its work for Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan in the first Tensing trial last fall, Isaac Wiles received $29,698. That amount was paid with money from Deters’ so-called Law Enforcement Trust Fund, which is funded entirely with cash and assets seized in criminal cases.
As of June 30, that fund — also known as a forfeiture fund — had a balance approaching $1.8 million. CityBeat wanted to know why forfeiture money wasn’t used to pay the more recent bill, but Deters’ spokeswoman Julie Wilson did not respond to a question sent Monday by email.
CONTACT JAMES McNAIR at [email protected], 513-914-2736 or @jmacnews on Twitter
