Prosecutor: No more protest charges
Only filings against 3 Columbus officers
A review of potential evidence of Columbus police officers acting illegally during racial justice protests and rioting in the Downtown area in late May 2020 has determined that no additional criminal charges will be filed beyond the three officers facing charges.
Brad Nicodemus, an assistant city attorney in Whitehall, was asked to assist Columbus Special Prosecutor Kathleen Garber in three cases that have been filed against Columbus police officers and review additional incidents to determine if any conduct warranted criminal charges.
The cases against the three officers previously charged remain ongoing, including a trial for one officer now on hold following a request by Garber, a former Franklin County prosecutor, to have the judge removed from the case.
A statement provided Friday afternoon on behalf of Nicodemus by Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein said that no additional charges will be filed against any additional Columbus police officers.
“Upon review of the incidents still needing a determination for charges, there is insufficient evidence to obtain convictions at trial,” Nicodemus said. “Therefore, I will not be filing any additional charges from the May 2020 protest incidents.”
The probe has resulted in charges being filed against Columbus officers Holly Kanode and Traci Shaw and Sgt. Phillip Walls. All the charges filed are misdemeanors.
Nicodemus said his review included evidence presented to him for probable cause, as well as the possibility of what can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
Nicodemus said Friday that he reviewed five different events for potential charges, involving approximately four to six focus officers. He said the decision not to file charges was based in part on a lack of probable cause in some cases, and in others, a belief that the case could not be proven at trial.
“In at least one I was looking at, the witness was not cooperative at all,” Nicodemus said. “I think he thought he could have been charged and, in some regards, he probably could have been for his actions prior to the officer doing what he did. Some of them, there was not probable cause. A lot of them though, I don’t think I could prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. It’s not a justification or an explanation for the officers’ conduct, I just don’t think there’s enough there to win at trial.”
Thus far, the city has spent more than $320,000 in its investigation into
alleged criminal acts by Columbus police officers during the protests, which began on May 28, 2020 following the murder three days earlier of George Floyd by then-minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
On Monday, Columbus City Council approved an extension of Garber’s contract for up to an additional $50,000.
Garber and former FBI agent Richard Wozniak, hired by Columbus as a special investigator, were tasked in late 2020 with the investigations into potential criminal misconduct.
Wozniak has made more than $186,000 to date and Garber’s contract, with the latest extension included, could top out at $138,000.
Kanode’s trial began earlier this month before Franklin County Municipal Judge James O’grady. She is charged with falsification and dereliction of duty related to paperwork she filed following the protests. The trial had been delayed due to a personal family emergency for Garber, and was scheduled to resume Tuesday.
However, Garber filed an affidavit for disqualification against Judge O’grady with the Ohio Supreme Court to have him removed from the case.
According to a copy of the affidavit, which was provided to The Dispatch by the Ohio Supreme Court through a public records request, Garber said concerns had been raised before Kanode’s trial started about O’grady’s ability to be impartial because of his political connections and his support of the Fraternal Order of Police in the past.
O’grady, however, according to the documents provided to The Dispatch, said he could set aside those potential conflicts of interest and rule fairly in the case.
The affidavit filed by Garber cites multiple instances of O’grady sustaining defense objections as one reason for him to be removed, as well as an incident that occurred in the courtroom on May 10.
Judge O’grady allowed Kanode defense attorney Mark Collins “to scream, rant, and belittle this Prosecutor with no admonishment or reminder to behave professionally, even when Collins suggested the Court get Ms. Garber a book on the Rules of Evidence after this Prosecutor suggested that he had no legal basis for his objection and asked him to provide one,” Garber wrote.
“At the close of the day, it was so apparent to any objective observer that Judge O’grady had not been fair and impartial, one, a member of the media approached this Prosecutor to ask whether I had expected this treatment, and
two, a fellow attorney stated that other attorneys needed to hear what was going on and be present during the trial.”
The affidavit, which was filed last Tuesday, May 24, has not yet been ruled on by Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Maureen O’connor.
Collins, who is representing Kanode, Walls and Shaw, did not have a comment on Friday.
Shaw is charged with assault, dereliction of duty and interference with civil rights and scheduled to go to trial in July.
Walls is facing the same charges and had been scheduled to go to trial this week, but no new date has been set pending the completion of Kanode’s case, according to court records.
With the criminal investigations into police officers now considered closed, the cases that were being reviewed will now be reviewed by the Division of Police for potential administrative discipline. bbruner@dispatch.com @bethany_bruner