Witness/alleged victim no show; charges against County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson, chief of staff dismissed

ELYRIA — The felony charges against Lorain County Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson and his Chief of Staff James Burge were dismissed Friday in Elyria Municipal Court. Tomlinson, 43, of Amherst, had faced charges of intimidation, tampering with evidence and attempted bribery, while Burge, 77, of Avon, was charged with intimidation and tampering with evidence. A preliminary hearing on Friday was the second in which the alleged victim and key witness in the case, Tomlinson's former employee and girlfriend Jennifer Battistelli, failed to appear. Visiting Judge Patrick Carroll declined to file a warrant for Battistelli's arrest because he said he could not know if she had been in the state when she was served with a subpoena to appear in court. Special Prosecutor Ron O'Brien said in court that he believed Battistelli, whom he identified as "JB," was in Scottsdale, Arizona. "At this time, without any further evidence there is no recourse but to dismiss the charges," Carroll said. His pronouncement was met by a short chorus of cheers and applause from Tomlinson's supporters, and immediately sent most of the audience out of the courtroom. "We anticipated this the whole time," Tomlinson said after the hearing. "... This was a terrible attempt at framing us, and it ended exactly the way I anticipated it ending, failure. But they got what they wanted, they framed me enough right before the election to cause problems, and that's what they did." Tomlinson, a Democrat, was defeated by Republican Tony Cillo, his former assistant prosecutor, in the election on Nov. 5. All bond conditions and protection orders against Tomlinson and Burge were lifted with the dismissal. Carroll said that although the charges were dismissed, the state could still seek to have the case presented to a Lorain County grand jury. That decision will be up to the County Prosecutor. This is a developing story, check back for updates.