The Ohio Supreme Court has received the merit brief for a new trial filed by former New Boston Police Sgt. Matt Powell requesting a new trial from his conviction for tampering with evidence a couple of years ago. The reasons cited in the Powell brief include: 1. The judge assigned to the case should not have been allowed to preside in the trial because he was a retired judge still practicing law in the State of Ohio. 2. The judge was to old to be the judge when the case took place. The judge that heard Powell's case is Judge Richard Markus, retired. (Picture above.)
According to new law established within the last couple of years by the Ohio Supreme Court a retired judge can not hear a jury trial if he is retired and continues to practice law or acts as a retired judge in civil cases as a judge or mediator. Retired judges still in the practice of law can not preside over jury trials such as Powell's case.
Judge Richard Markus's resume states as follows:
Judge Richard Markus's resume states as follows:
PRESENT POSITIONS:
Retired Ohio Common Pleas and Court of Appeals Judge Recalled to Service (recently serving as visiting judge in 30 Ohio counties)
President, Private Judicial Services, Inc. (mediation, arbitration, and private judging)
With this information Sgt. Powell has an excellent chance of getting his conviction overturned.
I'm not a big supporter of age discrimination but the Ohio State Constitution states that a judge can not preside over trials after he/she reaches the age of 70. At the time Powell was tried Judge Markus was almost 80 years old. I sat through most of the Powell trial and Judge Markus did a pretty good job but I'm still baffled as to why he refused to allow Powell's attorney Jim Banks to call Portsmouth Police Chief Charles Horner to the witness stand. Chief Horner started the Powell investigation but was never put under oath to find out why?
I believe Chief Horner fought to stay off the witness chair to prevent from having to testify that Powell was investigating Horner's son, David, for drug dealing in New Boston. With the possibility of a new trial on the horizon, we may still get to see Horner testify. Chief Horner's son was convicted of drug abuse a few years ago. We printed that information in many stories before and Chief Horner went ballistic when I got his sons sealed records and published them for the public to see. Chief Horner laughed at me in the early 2000's saying I may know his son had a dope conviction but I could never prove it. Boy, was that a big mistake, challenging me to find that information. Chief Horner falsely accused many people of leaking the information to me including Attorney Joe Hale and the Portsmouth Municipal Court Clerk Leroy Kegley. As in most Chief Horner investigations, he was wrong!
You can read the Powell brief at the following link:
http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/clerk_of_court/ecms/default.asp When you go to this link simply go to party name, type in Powell, Matt, and then scroll to the last ADOBE view link to read the brief.
I will bring you more on this story as it unfolds.
John Welton (DD)
John Welton (DD)
