News
New Judge Appointed To Preside Over Special Grand Jury Investigating Sheriff
By: Tom Hodson
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Retired judge Patricia Ann Cosgrove, of the Summit County Common Pleas Court, has been appointed, effective Tuesday, to preside over the special grand jury investigating Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly and “to hear all matters arising from those proceedings…”
Judge Cosgrove will be replacing Athens County Common Pleas Judge L. Alan Goldsberry in this matter. She was appointed by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor.
Here is the official assignment.
The appointment came at the request of Judge Goldsberry in a letter he faxed to the Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday.
Judge Goldsberry stated that the special grand jury has been meeting for several months and are continuing to meet. He told the court of the “Motion to Compel” that was filed by the State to force the Athens County Sheriff, “who is the subject of the inquiry” to produce certain “discovery.”
Judge Goldsberry stated in the request his reasons for stepping aside.
“The Sheriff has also announced in the media that several local officials have been subjects of investigations by him in the last few years and he has files or dossiers on these persons. He has been required to pay confidential informants to pursue the investigations,” Judge Goldsberry wrote.
“The Sheriff is quoted in the local news media saying the undersigned judge is one of those persons that was investigated. Therefore, it seems inappropriate for me to deal with the motion to compel discovery and my colleague, Judge George McCarthy, would not do so either,” Judge Goldsberry said.
Judge Goldsberry asked that this matter be brought quickly to the attention of the chief justice and that an outside judge be appointed. The appointment came the same day of the request.
“We need to keep the procedure moving because, as I have said, it has been in our local news for several months. It is a public issue that needs to be resolved,” Judge Goldsberry added.
See a full copy of Judge Goldsberry’s letter.