Akron Municipal Court Judge Joy Malek Oldfield is denying a police officer’s contention that he found her and a public defender partially clothed in the back seat of a car that smelled of alcohol.
Oldfield was not charged during the early morning Feb. 5 encounter in a Copley Township parking lot. The person with her that night, Catherine Loya, an assistant public defender in Akron who appears regularly in Oldfield’s court, was cited for physical control after she refused to take an alcohol breath test.
Oldfield deferred questions about the incident to her attorney, John Hill. In an interview Saturday, Hill said the judge disputes information contained in the report compiled by Copley patrolman Thomas Ballinger.
“Joy is dumbfounded and incredibly upset by this supplement to the police report,” Hill said. “She has no unusual or inappropriate relationship with this lawyer…The addendum [to the police report] is not accurate, it is not true.”
Hill said the judge is demanding an investigation to determine how the information came to be included in the report and whether it was retaliatory or politically motivated.
Copley police Chief Michael Mier defended his officer and said Ballinger has no motivation to embellish the facts.
Officer’s report
In his report, Ballinger said he noticed Loya’s car parked in a lot off Ridgewood Crossing Drive. The vehicle’s engine was running, and its headlights were on. The time was about 1:45 a.m.
The officer said as he approached the vehicle, he “observed a female’s head raise up from the back seat and look out the back window.” He then saw “two female subjects placing their clothing items on and then exit the back seat and move to the front seats.’’
Ballinger said he noticed a strong smell of alcohol coming from inside the car. In his report, Oldfield identified herself as a judge and said it was she who had been drinking. Nonetheless, Ballinger had Loya exit the Toyota. His report says Loya smelled of alcohol. However, the defense attorney refused his request to perform sobriety tests. She was cited with the traffic offense. A police officer then drove Loya and Oldfield to the judge’s nearby home.
Mier said Officer Ballinger stands by his report. He said there is no dash cam video, because the officer didn’t need to activate his cruiser’s emergency lights in the private parking lot and the camera was, therefore, not activated. Instead, the officer used his car’s spotlight to look inside the car as he approached from the rear.
“If [Oldfield] is denying it happened, well, I don’t know how to respond to that,” Mier said Saturday. “I guess it’s not unusual for folks to deny something took place. I can tell you that our officer was there and I’m satisfied that his report is an accurate reflection of what took place.”
Oldfield’s attorney remains critical of the officer’s report, which he said includes an addendum that was added several days after the initial report. Hill said the judge declined to speak about the case Saturday, because she did not want it to appear as if she was interfering with Loya’s pending traffic case.
Hill also said there may be further litigation based on what he said was the officer’s erroneous version of the events.
Oldfield, a former magistrate for Summit County Common Pleas Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer, was elected to the bench in November. She defeated incumbent Judge Tom McCarty while campaigning on a promise to bring “experience, integrity, understanding and fairness” to the court.
Socializing with friends
On the night in question, according to Hill, Oldfield and her husband, Charlie, were socializing with Loya and several other friends, most of whom were lawyers, at a local venue. The Oldfields had recently learned that a family member was gravely ill, he said.
At some point, Charlie Oldfield left for home, where a sitter was watching their two daughters. Before leaving, Hill said, Charlie Oldfield encouraged the judge to stay and socialize with their friends. He arranged for Loya, whom they didn’t think was drinking, to drive the judge home.
On the way home, Oldfield was upset about the relative’s illness and asked Loya to park the car so she could finish a cigarette and compose herself before going home, Hill said. Oldfield had been drinking, but was not drunk, he said.
Loya and Oldfield were parked in the shopping plaza near Interstate 77 for only a few minutes before the officer pulled into the lot.
“Both are in the front seat. They both have all their clothes on. Nothing inappropriate is going on,” Hill said. “This document is not true. Absolutely, unequivocally, they’re never in the back and they never had their clothes off.
“There’s nothing going on other than two people talking about a very emotional thing and Joy trying to compose herself.”
Hill said he doesn’t know why Loya refused to take the alcohol tests, but he doesn’t believe she was intoxicated.
Loya’s case is pending in Barberton Municipal Court. She did not return a message Saturday seeking comment. Edward Bonetti, her attorney, declined to comment.
Incident to be reviewed
Joseph Kodish, the city’s chief public defender, said Loya, 30, would continue to be assigned to Oldfield’s courtroom. As an assistant public defender, Loya represents indigent defendants charged with misdemeanor crimes in the Akron Municipal Court district. Each assistant public defender is assigned for a period of time to each court. Loya has been assigned to Oldfield’s court before and after the incident in Copley.
“I don’t know if that is inappropriate or not,” Kodish said. “From your position, you may think it is. I just take more time to make those decisions. Attorneys go out with judges and socialize all the time. The question is, when do you think it goes too far. Just because there’s a police report, doesn’t make it true. It’s a naked allegation. And I have chosen to take the conservative way out.”
Attorney Bill Chris, who serves as counsel for the Akron Bar Association’s grievance committee, learned of the incident Saturday from a reporter. He said he intends to review the incident before determining if any action is necessary or sending a query to the Ohio Supreme Court.
He said judges and attorneys are often friendly and often socialize outside the courtroom. However, both need to take care to ensure that the relationship remains professional. He said that is especially true when a public defender is specifically assigned to a specific judge.
“When it comes to relationships, obviously you have to do everything you can to avoid any appearance of impropriety,” he said. “If you’re involved, you shouldn’t be practicing before that judge.”
