Judges seek recusal from Ford case

SANDUSKY — Erie County's three common pleas court judges addressed an effort from local podcaster Ashli Ford's defense attorney to disqualify them from Ford's pending criminal court case. Both the trio of judges and the Erie County prosecutor, though, denied allegations of misconduct levied at them by defense attorney Peter Pattakos. Pattakos filed with the Ohio Supreme Court on July 9 with a supplemental filing on July 21, arguing common pleas court judges Beverly McGookey, Tygh Tone and Roger Binette should be disqualified from his client's mortgage fraud case. Ford, 41, of Milan, is facing 13 felony charges, including telecommunications fraud and forgery for allegedly signing a man's name on federal loan documents without his consent and falsely stating a familial relationship in the documents. Prosecutors further claim that Ford then allegedly used the funds secured in the loan to dismiss a home foreclosure action and modify the loan. That case went to trial in late May, presided over by McGookey, ending in a hung jury and mistrial. Ford is set for another jury trial beginning at 9 a.m. on Sept. 28, according to court records. In his July 21 filing, Pattakos argued that courthouse staff acted inappropriately and made statements during the trial that showed bias against Ford. He also alleged jury tampering involving the prosecution and the court. Pattakos also raised the issue of the court's procedure in handling jurors' notebooks and also provided affidavits from two of the 12 jurors in the May trial, who stated they believe the court showed bias against Ford. McGookey filed an affidavit on July 29 stating that she was initially unaware that she was being assigned to Ford's new trial until she saw Pattakos' social media posts about it. She wrote that she would seek to recuse herself from Ford's case, but deemed Pattakos' other allegations as "salacious." "I also vehemently deny and take offense at any suggestion that the court and staff colluded/conspired with the prosecution, law enforcement or any other entity to obtain a conviction against Ashli Ford," wrote McGookey, adding that she intended to address those allegations further in a future filing. Tone, in a separate filing, wrote that he did not think it was proper for him to handle any future proceeding involving Ford. Pattakos, on social media, also said Binette sought to recuse himself, which the newspaper was unable to independently verify by press time Tuesday. In another separate filing, Erie County prosecutor Kevin Baxter and assistant prosecutor Paulette Lilly both denied the allegations that they acted inappropriately and showed bias against Ford. Baxter and Lilly singled out one of Pattakos' allegations: that they acted inappropriately during an out-of-the-courtroom conversation with McGookey during which Lilly was seen in courthouse surveillance video putting her hand on the judge's shoulder. Lilly wrote that McGookey had shared a worrying development from her personal life and became emotional, and the pair sought to offer comfort before departing.