Visiting judge, case number assigned to possible criminal case against Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson

A legal process has been started that could result in criminal charges against Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson, according to court records reviewed by The Chronicle-Telegram. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Raymond Ewers, the administrative judge of the court's six-judge General Division, recently requested that the Ohio Supreme Court assign a visiting judge to hear two cases in the court — one of them a criminal case, on behalf of Lorain County Sheriff Phil Stammitti. One is case number 24CV211448, attorney James Barilla's filing against Tomlinson and his office seeking the release of public records and monetary damages related to documents detailing the $100,000 settlement the prosecutor's office paid last year to Tomlinson's former girlfriend and employee, Jennifer Battistelli. The second is a criminal case, number 24CR111270, which has no public entries on the docket, according to a search of Common Pleas Court records. An Ohio Supreme Court entry on that court's website does not list a defendant under the case name, which for now is "State v. (blank)." But a search of online Supreme Court records Thursday for recent judicial assignments by the state's highest court showed that the request was made in a "criminal case filed by the Lorain County Sheriff against the Lorain County Prosecutor et al." "They are asking for a special prosecutor and a grand jury to be appointed, James Barilla v. J.D. Tomlinson," according to the results of the search, which lists former Summit County Common Pleas and 9th District Court of Appeals judge Thomas Teodosio, a Democrat, as being assigned to the criminal and civil case numbers effective May 24. Stammitti confirmed Thursday that Ewers forwarded his request, made under seal, for the Ohio Supreme Court to appoint a visiting judge. Ewers and Stammitti are Democrats, as is Tomlinson. Tomlinson gave the following statement Thursday to The Chronicle: "It's no coincidence that the party who requested this investigation is the sheriff, the politician who hired not only the prosecutor (Dennis Will) I defeated in the last election but also the lawyer who is my opponent in this election," he wrote. "It's unusual, to say the least, for a sheriff to hire lawyers as members of his staff. That was political and this is political. That being said, I've done nothing wrong and I welcome the inquiry." Tomlinson defeated Will in the 2020 Democratic primary to become the party's nominee for prosecutor. His statement also references Tony Cillo, his Republican opponent in the November election and a former assistant prosecutor in Tomlinson's office, who was hired by Stammitti in July 2023 as associate director of the Lorain County Drug Task Force. As of Thursday, Stammitti said he didn't know the process for how a special prosecutor might be appointed. "I really can't comment too much more, except there's a process we have to go through, and I'll wait on that process through Teodosio," he said. On May 8, Stammitti announced that his office, the FBI and the State Auditor's Office are doing a joint investigation, but declined to say who the target of the investigation is. Stammitti's response that day came after a Chronicle reporter asked him about allegations Tomlinson made against a sheriff's captain, Robert Vansant, in a lengthy letter released to the media. That same day, Tomlinson admitted publicly for the first time that he and Battistelli were in a romantic relationship while she was his employee but still claimed there was "no salacious conduct. No scandal" when it came to paying her $100,000 following her August resignation as his director of public relations. Barilla, a Republican, and his attorney Jonathan Rosenbaum have argued that Tomlinson's office didn't turn over public records on the Battistelli case. They have accused him and other county officials of therefore violating state open records law and asked Teodosio to order Tomlinson to turn over the records and pay civil penalties in the civil case. Attorneys representing Tomlinson have argued that certain documents or communications related to the settlement are not public records. Tomlinson's lawyers have asked a judge to seal from public view a document he and they say contains "accusations" harmful both to Tomlinson and Battistelli. In response to two public records requests, Tomlinson's attorneys sent a letter to The Chronicle-Telegram that said the prosecutor's office has no such records. "We have advised the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office that any of the documents to which you refer in the request, to the extent thatthey exist, are not records of the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office as defined by (state law)," attorney Amily Imbrogno wrote in an email Thursday to a Chronicle reporter. "Therefore, the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office's response to your request is thatit has no responsive records in its custody or control." In a follow-up email, Imbrogno refused to say who or what agency might have custody or control of the records, which she and a fellow attorney have admitted existed in filings in Barilla's ongoing lawsuit. But the "communication," as they called it, is too embarrassing or "oppressive" to be released publicly. They have asked Teodosio for a protective order keeping the "communication" from being publicized to protect Tomlinson "from annoyance, embarrassment or oppression, as the document is not relevant to any claim or defense in this matter." "The oppressive nature of the Oct. 10, 2023, communication far outweighs the relevance or value of the communication to this litigation," Imbrogno and attorney Kathleen Minahan wrote in a court filing on behalf of Tomlinson. "Its discovery should not be had or should be protected." Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.