CLEVELAND -- Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge John O'Donnell has dismissed the indictments against five Cleveland police supervisors.
"...the motion to dismiss can be denied if it doesn't otherwise serve the interests of justice. The defendants have argued that the switch of venue amounts to harassment by the prosecutor. I accept that the defendants have sustained expense, inconvenience, uncertainty and anxiety by having to litigate the same case at the same time in two different places."
"But presumably the work to prepare for trial has been mostly done and, regardless of the outcome of the motion to dismiss, the defendants will be subjected to trial. Without intending to minimize the extra burdens placed on the defendants by the new prosecution, those burdens do not rise to the level of deprivation of constitutional and procedural safeguards."
"Because the state has demonstrated good cause to dismiss the indictment and the motion to dismiss has not been made in bad faith it is granted and the indictments of Randolph Daley, Michael Donegan, Patricia Coleman, Jason Edens and Paul Wilson are dismissed."
O'Donnell dismisses charges in Common Pleas Court against five police supervisors charged in the Nov. 22, 2012 high-speed pursuit that left two unarmed people dead in the parking lot of Heritage Middle School in East Cleveland.
There were strong words from defense attorneys who do not want the charges dropped in county court
They are calling the prosecution's request to drop charges a "charade" ... and cherry-picking where the trial should be.
Five Cleveland police supervisors face charges for not calling off or trying to limit the 2012 police chase that involved dozens of police cars and left Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams dead.
A Cuyahoga County grand jury returned misdemeanor charges of dereliction of duty against five supervisors. Those officers were Lt. Paul Wilson, and Sgts. Randolph Daley, Michael Donegan,Jason Edens and Patricia Coleman.
Earlier this month, the East Cleveland prosecutor filed duplicate charges against the five supervisors in East Cleveland Municipal Court.
The five supervisors -- Michael Donegan, 44 of Cleveland; Patricia Coleman, 50 of Brooklyn; Randolph Dailey, 46 of North Ridgeville; Jason Edens, 44 of Avon; and Paul Wilson, 51 of Cleveland -- are all white.
The two suspects that were killed -- Malissa Williams and Timothy Russell -- were both African-Americans.
And 93 percent of the population of East Cleveland, according to the last census, are African-American. The East Cleveland Municipal Court Judge that would hear the case -- William L. Dawson -- is African-American.
