Latest / Brian Thomas / Brian talks with Common Pleas Court Judge Leah Dinkelacker

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Brian talks with Common Pleas Court Judge Leah Dinkelacker · Brian Thomas

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  Speaker 1: Station. It's seven thirty two on a Friday. Even a
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  Speaker 1: happy one to you, Brian Thomas here and please to
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  Speaker 1: have in the studio Judge le din co Locker. The
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  Speaker 1: name sounds familiar. Gee, where have I heard the word
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  Speaker 1: dink Locker before? Judge dink Locker. A pleasure to have
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  Speaker 1: you in the studio.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for having me here today. I'm
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  Speaker 2: honored to be here.
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  Speaker 1: And I've known your father, Judge Patt dink Locker, a
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  Speaker 1: long long time. I don't recall ever being in front
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  Speaker 1: of him in court, but he, I mean widely accepted
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  Speaker 1: across political lines as an outstanding jurist. So you come
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  Speaker 1: from great lineage. Let me just applaud you on your
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  Speaker 1: dad being who your dad is.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you. I've truly blessed.
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  Speaker 1: And I'm probably inspiring to you as well.
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  Speaker 2: So absolutely yes.
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  Speaker 1: Did you aspire to be a judge when you went
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  Speaker 1: to law school?
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  Speaker 2: So a lot of people ask me that obviously with
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  Speaker 2: my dad, you know what I always said, you know,
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  Speaker 2: I'll just keep my opportunities open and see what happens.
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  Speaker 2: I knew I wanted to be a prosecutor, and that's
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  Speaker 2: what I was for almost thirteen years before I took
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  Speaker 2: the bench. But it's pretty cool to follow on your dan's.
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  Speaker 1: Footstets, I imagine. So it's interesting you say that because
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  Speaker 1: when I went to law school, I initially I wanted
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  Speaker 1: to be a litigation attorney of some sort. And I
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  Speaker 1: initially thought, hey, I want to work in the prosecutor's
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  Speaker 1: office because I worked in the courthouse for a Judge
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  Speaker 1: Panioto back when the when Domestic was on the fourth
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  Speaker 1: floor of the Hamler County Courthouse. I go way back,
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  Speaker 1: but I was around them all the time, and I
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  Speaker 1: got to do what they called an externship when I
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  Speaker 1: was in law school and I worked for Melbourne Marsh Prosecute. Yeah, okay,
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  Speaker 1: love her, Yeah yeah, she is outstanding. So a great
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  Speaker 1: collection of folks there. So I'm glad you spent time
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  Speaker 1: in the prosecutor's office, which obviously really prepares you to
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  Speaker 1: be on the on the bench. You were appointed last
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  Speaker 1: is it March? Last March by the Governor de Wine, Yes,
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  Speaker 1: replacing Judge Megan Shanahan. Yes. Yes, did you apply for that?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, was your name submitted?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah? Sure, so obviously when Justice Shanahan was elected to
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  Speaker 2: the Supreme Court, that spot was open, so I interviewed
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  Speaker 2: in front of the Judicial selection committee. The party then
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  Speaker 2: you know, made their recommendations to the governor. Then I
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  Speaker 2: went up to the Governor's office and I interviewed, and
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  Speaker 2: then several months later I got the appointment in March.
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  Speaker 1: That is outstanding. Obviously a lot of competition out there,
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  Speaker 1: and it's very politically charged, I imagine and process. Even
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  Speaker 1: though it just should be built on your resume and
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  Speaker 1: your background, there's still politics involved, right clearly. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: Governor de Wines, whatever we might say about him, isn't
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  Speaker 1: going to appoint a Democrat to the bench, I would say,
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  Speaker 1: But you don't run it. You don't run under a
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  Speaker 1: party affiliation when you're running for judge. And that's one
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  Speaker 1: of the complicating factors because you and I both know
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  Speaker 1: and fully understand how important the bench is. We've had
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  Speaker 1: such a problem with crime in the Hamilton County generally speaking,
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  Speaker 1: and part of the downfall of the criminal justice system is,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the prosecutors might do their work. The police
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  Speaker 1: have certainly done their work to bring someone to justice,
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  Speaker 1: otherwise they wouldn't be, you know, in front of a
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  Speaker 1: judge with the prosecutor's office prosecuting the case. But if
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  Speaker 1: you have a weak judge or someone who isn't tough
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  Speaker 1: on crime, they let them go low bond or a
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  Speaker 1: very very low sentence on and once convicted beyond a
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  Speaker 1: reasonable doubt. That's a huge, huge, huge problem we face
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  Speaker 1: in Hamilton County.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know, I can only control what goes
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  Speaker 2: on in my courtroom. You know, the safety of the
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  Speaker 2: community is a top priority in my courtroom, as it
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  Speaker 2: is under the law. You know, I took an oath
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  Speaker 2: to follow the law. I take that seriously. I believe
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  Speaker 2: in law and order. I believe in the rule of law,
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  Speaker 2: and I believe in protecting this community. In my courtroom.
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  Speaker 2: I do set my bonds on serious felonies, felonies of
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  Speaker 2: the first and second degree, because I think it's important.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I know people have in the community appreciate that.
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  Speaker 1: We'll pause, We'll bring Judge denk Locker back for a
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  Speaker 1: few more conversations coming seven thirty seven right now fifty
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  Speaker 1: five KRCD talk station or more conversation more properly stated.
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  Speaker 1: But first I gotta mention Susane Low's camp with Cross
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  Speaker 1: Country Morriage. She's great at talk station seven forty one
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  Speaker 1: here fifty five KRCD talk station, right Thomas with Judge
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  Speaker 1: dink Locker, not the one you may remember, historical and
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  Speaker 1: prominent judge, Judge Patrick Dinklocker. This is his daughter, but
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  Speaker 1: appointed by Judge or by Governor Mike DeWine last March
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  Speaker 1: to sit on the Hamlin County Common Police Court. Doing
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  Speaker 1: a wonderful job so far, and we'll be running for
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  Speaker 1: reelection this November. I've always found the judicial elections rather frustrating,
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  Speaker 1: Judge dink Locker, because if you're outside of the law,
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  Speaker 1: and hopefully the vast majority of people are who wants
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  Speaker 1: to be even embroiled in a civil litigation because you
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  Speaker 1: know that equals a lot of money. Right, lawyers are expensive.
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  Speaker 1: I know because I was one. I guess they still am.
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  Speaker 1: But I'm a recovering lawyer so they don't practice anymore.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, criminal matters as well. I was kind
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  Speaker 1: of curious to know, given the state of the world
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  Speaker 1: these days, how difficult it is to be a judge.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, you're responsible for convicting people and are rather
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  Speaker 1: sentencing people in criminal trials, assuming a jury or you,
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  Speaker 1: if you're doing a bench trial, decide that the person
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  Speaker 1: is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. A lot of it's
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  Speaker 1: focus on you, a lot of attention. Family members quite
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  Speaker 1: often get vocal and angry, and I imagine there's this
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  Speaker 1: online social media banter, maybe even having a misunderstanding of
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  Speaker 1: what actually happened in your courtroom. How do you how
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  Speaker 1: are you able to rise above that and continue to
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  Speaker 1: do your job in the face of this sort of
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  Speaker 1: what I will, you know, lightly call a threat?
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  Speaker 2: No, sure, well, you know, I just always keep my composure.
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  Speaker 2: That's my job. My job is to be fair and impartial,
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  Speaker 2: and I just you know, I let everyone have their
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  Speaker 2: day in court. I let everyone tell me what they
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  Speaker 2: want to tell me, even though sometimes it can be
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  Speaker 2: out a line or whatever. I just still keep my
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  Speaker 2: composure and I'll take a break if I need to
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  Speaker 2: step off and just take a deep breath. That's what
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  Speaker 2: I do. But yeah, I mean, I know it sounds
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  Speaker 2: silly to say this, but you know, one of the
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  Speaker 2: hardest part, the hardest part of the job is some
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  Speaker 2: of the decisions I have to make. They are they
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  Speaker 2: can be really tough. Some are easier than others. Because
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  Speaker 2: every decision that I make is affecting somebody's life, whether
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  Speaker 2: it's a criminal case or a civil case. And that's
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  Speaker 2: that's huge, you know. So that's why I take every
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  Speaker 2: decision I make very seriously. I put thought into it,
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  Speaker 2: and you know, and follow the oath that I took.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, the repercussions are profound. The individual who may or
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  Speaker 1: may not be going to jail, the family members that
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  Speaker 1: love that individual, regardless of what they may have done.
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  Speaker 1: You know, they may have anger. We've seen that most
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  Speaker 1: recently with the whole Hinting situation. Some people come completely unglued.
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  Speaker 1: So there's that tragedy. There's a tragedy surrounding the victim
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  Speaker 1: and their families, and they need for accountability and justice
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  Speaker 1: for them. And then there's society at large, and most
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  Speaker 1: notably when it comes to bond hearing, this has to
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  Speaker 1: be rather difficult. The person has yet to be convicted,
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  Speaker 1: and this is the argument you get from the left.
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  Speaker 1: Wait a second, we're innocent until proven guilty. And yet
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  Speaker 1: you're going to hold this person in jail unless they
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  Speaker 1: can cough up whatever amount of money or no bond
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  Speaker 1: at all, because they represent such a profound threat to society.
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  Speaker 1: That's the judgment you have to make as a judge,
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  Speaker 1: and that cannot be easy.
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  Speaker 2: I agree, I think setting bond is really hard. But
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  Speaker 2: you know, I know the law. There are certain factors
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  Speaker 2: that we are to consider, and I consider those each time.
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  Speaker 2: And one of those factors is the safety of the punity,
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  Speaker 2: the history of the defendant, the serious nature of the charges,
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  Speaker 2: and among other things, and I consider all those when
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  Speaker 2: I make my decision.
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  Speaker 1: And making that decision, notably, you'll have let's say, a
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  Speaker 1: recidivous they got a long record, including maybe some violence
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  Speaker 1: and things of that, and okay, that's an easy one.
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  Speaker 1: The crime that they're charged with in the court again
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  Speaker 1: not yet proving guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But do
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  Speaker 1: you look at the evidence that's been presented to you, like,
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  Speaker 1: for example, the grand jury conclusions, or what the officers
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  Speaker 1: have by way, or what the prosecutors have by way
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  Speaker 1: of the evidence they plan on presenting at the criminal trial.
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  Speaker 1: Does that have a bearing on that bond decision.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, so, I think the strength of the evidence is
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  Speaker 2: one of the factors. And you know, at every bond hearing,
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  Speaker 2: the state is there, the prosecutor, so obviously I listen
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  Speaker 2: to what the state has offered, what the defendant has offer,
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  Speaker 2: if there is a victim present, I listen to what
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  Speaker 2: they have to say, if there's a police officer, and
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  Speaker 2: then I just ticket all under consideration and do what
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  Speaker 2: I think is the right thing.
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  Speaker 1: Do what you think is the right thing. And if
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  Speaker 1: you're springing from you know, concern about the population generally,
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  Speaker 1: and that the you know, the the the legs of
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  Speaker 1: the criminal justice system are all there, and if you're
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  Speaker 1: working off of the right set of principles, it just
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  Speaker 1: I get the impression, and I'm not asking you to
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  Speaker 1: see if you a similar impression, that some judges are
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  Speaker 1: so politically charged in their decision making they walk in
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  Speaker 1: with this general presumption, not treating every case individually, but
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  Speaker 1: general presumption that society is the fault or the reason
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  Speaker 1: that this defendant is at front of me, and I
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  Speaker 1: can't get a high bond on them, or I can't
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  Speaker 1: charge them heavily after conviction beyond a reasonable doubt because
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  Speaker 1: this poor individual is a victim of society. Ignore the
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  Speaker 1: victim of the crime that this person committed, but society
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  Speaker 1: generally speaking being as corrupt as it is, so I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to treat them lightly. That to me corrupts the
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  Speaker 1: criminal justice system.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and like I said before, I can only control
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  Speaker 2: what goes on in my courtroom. And I, like I said,
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  Speaker 2: I took an oath fall law and that's.
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  Speaker 1: What I do. Forty six will continue one more with
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  Speaker 1: Judge Leah Denka Locker, who you can stick around. Plus
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  Speaker 1: after the top of the air news have some time
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  Speaker 1: to talk. Phone calls included in Jay Reach seven fifty
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  Speaker 1: one if you five k se the talk station. Brian
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  Speaker 1: Thomas enjoying my conversation an opportunity to meet Judge Leah
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  Speaker 1: dan Callocker appled by Governor of Wine last year in
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  Speaker 1: March took it over Judge Megan Shanahan's seats since she
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  Speaker 1: was elected the houh of Supreme Court. Doing an admirable
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  Speaker 1: job thus far. She liked to retain the seat. She'll
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  Speaker 1: be on the ballot this November. Get in touch with
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  Speaker 1: you judicial elections. Find out who's on the ballot, find
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  Speaker 1: out who's tough on crime and who understands the justice
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  Speaker 1: system generally. And it sounds me from my early my
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  Speaker 1: first conversation whether she's got a great handle on all
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  Speaker 1: that every case treated individually and of course the community
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  Speaker 1: is factored into the decision making when it comes to
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  Speaker 1: both bonds, hearings and sentencing, we have to remember the victims' families,
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  Speaker 1: but also taking into consideration the obvious ripple effect criminal
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  Speaker 1: activity invites them on so many people and over to trends,
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  Speaker 1: I asked you off air, judge, and I could have
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  Speaker 1: guessed it, but it comes as no shit. Drugs seem
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  Speaker 1: to be the big problem. The reason people end up
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  Speaker 1: in the criminal justice system is some connection with drugs.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say the majority of the cases on
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  Speaker 2: my docket involved drugs, whether it's simple possession or because
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  Speaker 2: of a drug problem. You then commit other crimes, and
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  Speaker 2: then there is mental health you know, issues mixed in
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  Speaker 2: with that as well.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, I think anybody knows anything about drug
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  Speaker 1: addiction and the use of drugs. A lot of people
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  Speaker 1: are self medicating for an underlying mental health problem. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: even if something is problematic or as minimal as general anxiety,
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  Speaker 1: you know, people like to booze it up to deal
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  Speaker 1: with that. Well, you got some people with big time
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  Speaker 1: mental challenges, psychosis and things of that, and they're going
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  Speaker 1: for fentanyl and a lot of other hard drugs to
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  Speaker 1: sort of cope with their mental illness. Can you refer
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  Speaker 1: someone in your courtroom over to the mental health court
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  Speaker 1: because it's two separate courts downtown, correct.
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  Speaker 2: So there are some judges on our court that have
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  Speaker 2: mental health court dockets, so they're still a common police
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  Speaker 2: judge like me, but they do have a specialty docket.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, so sometimes they will be evaluated for mental
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  Speaker 2: health court, and if it's appropriate, then we can refer
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  Speaker 2: them to that judge and they'll be on that docket
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  Speaker 2: and see their case through through mental health court, all right.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and then of course the drugs, the property crimes
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  Speaker 1: directly related to it. It even sometimes the violence, which
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  Speaker 1: is I don't understand how anybody could drive by a
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  Speaker 1: group of people and just unload their fully automatic glock
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  Speaker 1: switch glock into a crowd. Is that I'm not sure
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  Speaker 1: if you have any inside information on that, but that
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  Speaker 1: happens so seemingly frequently. Is that gang related activity that
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  Speaker 1: has a connection with drugs? Is that what we're seeing there?
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  Speaker 2: I don't know, I think yeah, I you know, I
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  Speaker 2: dealt with a lot of those cases as a prosecutor.
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  Speaker 2: I don't I think the police would be able to
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  Speaker 2: that more.
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  Speaker 1: Sorry, that's okay, sponge Yah asking because I'm curious. I understand.
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  Speaker 1: I'm curious a bunch of other people who are curious.
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  Speaker 1: Are you getting the resources you need? As you have
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  Speaker 1: sat on the bench now for coming up on a year,
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  Speaker 1: you feel like that you have adequate resources?
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  Speaker 2: I do, Yeah, I do. You know, you go through
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  Speaker 2: a lot of training through with the Supreme Court. I
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  Speaker 2: also have colleagues, you know, on the bench, other judges
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  Speaker 2: that have welcomed me, and people I can you know,
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  Speaker 2: go to and ask questions. Uh. And you know I
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  Speaker 2: am familiar with a lot of the attorneys, you know,
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  Speaker 2: because I practiced in the court room for almost thirteen
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  Speaker 2: years before taking the bench. So yeah, I do feel
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  Speaker 2: like I have enough resources.
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  Speaker 1: Well, we hope you stay on the bench. November is
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  Speaker 1: the big election coming up, and it's going to be
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  Speaker 1: here before you know it. Folks, take care of in
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: mind your judges. Gop judges dot com I believe was
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: one of the websites that used to do that. But
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: we'll have judged in clocker on now and it's several
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: times hopefully for the election of November. She'll have her
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: website up and running in short order. She's working on
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: solidifying that right now. So I figured in a matter
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: of a very short period of time, maybe within a
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: week or two, perhaps your site will be up and
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: we'll of course bring that up so you can check
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: out the resource and maybe help out a campaign a
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: little bit. Everybody to run for office, of course, needs
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: a little bit of assistance, so I think she's a
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  Speaker 1: worthy person for that assistance. Judged ink Locker, it's been
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  Speaker 1: a real pleasure having you in studio today. I appreciate
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  Speaker 1: your efforts in coming down and I hope we will
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  Speaker 1: talk between now November.
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  Speaker 2: No, thank you so much once again, thank you for
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  Speaker 2: this opportunity. I really really appreciate it. I'm honored to
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  Speaker 2: be here. Thanks for inviting me, and I do hope
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  Speaker 2: I can come again in the future.
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  Speaker 1: You will listen up, Bert, the offer is going to
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  Speaker 1: be extended. You a hear from her on this fifty
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: five Caresey Mornings show between now November. That's cause she refused.
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  Speaker 1: I doubt that's going to happen. Can you give me
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: a favor and tell your dad high I will.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks, thank you, I have a great day.
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: After the top of the arready, it's kind a half
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: hour to talk before we get to Ihart media aviation
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: expert Jay rat Love, maybe something's in the back of
• 14:56
  Speaker 1: your