Judge, wife arraigned in hit-skip case
MARION — A Marion County judge and his wife have pleaded not guilty to all charges stemming from a hit-skip crash in June.
Common Pleas Judge Jason D. Warner, 50, and Julia M. Warner, 53, both of Marion, were arraigned Tuesday before visiting Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove in common pleas court. Columbus defense attorney Sam Shamansky represented the Warners and entered the not guilty pleas on their behalf.
The Warners are accused of leaving the scene of a June 4 crash in Marion involving a vehicle driven by Colton Gray, 19, of Marion. Gray was injured and was discharged from a hospital the next day. He attended the Warners’ arraignment, where he declined to comment on the case.
Both of the Warners have been indicted on these charges: complicity to vehicular assault, a fourth-degree felony; complicity to vehicular assault, a thirddegree felony; complicity to leaving the scene of an accident, a fourth-degree felony; and complicity to tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony.
Warner has taken a leave of absence from his common pleas judgeship but has no intention of resigning, Shamansky
said.
The Ohio Supreme Court issued an order last week disqualifying Warner “from acting as a judge ... while any and all indictments filed in the Marion County Court of Common Pleas are pending and until further order of this court.”
Cosgrove, a retired Summit County Common Pleas Court judge appointed to the case by the Supreme Court, set bond at $15,000 for each of the Warners. The couple posted bond after the arraignment and were released from jail.