The Ohio Supreme Court entered an order on May 13, 2013 in response to Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor, Anthony Cillo’s request that Judge James M. Burge be disqualified from presiding over all of his cases. The Ohio Supreme Court disqualified Judge Burge from presiding over one specific case. The Courts decision rested largely on what it deemed to be an appearance of impropriety, namely that the Judge had spoken to the media about the case in question.
On May 29th, 2014, the Lorain County Prosecutor, Dennis Will, asked the Ohio Supreme Court to disqualify Judge Burge from hearing any cases his office is handling. Mr. Will has alleged that Judge Burge should be removed because of alleged inappropriate language and behavior towards Will’s staff. That decision is pending before the court.
Jude Edward Zaleski, a retired judge, will be handling Burge’s criminal cases until the Ohio Supreme Court makes its final determination on the Prosecutor’s newest request.
http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2014/05/29/prosecutor-seeks-sweeping-ban-judge/
http://chronicle.northcoastnow.com/2014/06/04/prosecutor-kept-tabs-burge-years/
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article
/report_no_ruling_on_blanket_disqualification_motion_but_new_judge_will_hear/
