Lorain County Judge James Burge to pay own expenses in defending against suit

Lorain County Judge James Burge to pay own expenses in defending against suit by Ohio Attorney General over lethal injection hearing:

Alex M. Parker has this article the Lorain Morning Journal, entitled Judge will pay for own attorney in state appeal."

Excerpts:

Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge, who wants the county to hire an attorney to represent him in his legal challenge with the state involving the death penalty challenge, said he'll reimburse the county out of his own pocket.

''I'll see to it that the county gets its money back,'' said Burge, who had previously said he didn't want to see the legal issue arising from a capital murder case burden the county taxpayers. ''I'm going to have to keep my word.''

Burge wants to hold a hearing for murder defendant Ruben Rivera to decide whether the Ohio lethal injection process is ''cruel or unusual'' under the U.S. Constitution.

However, Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann filed an action in court to stop the hearing, claiming that Burge does not have the authority to hold a hearing because Rivera has not been to trial yet.

Arguments will be heard by the Ohio Supreme Court and the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office, which has opposed Burge on the issue and cannot represent him.

The cost to hire Burge an attorney can run in the tens of thousands of dollars.

...Burge said he thought it was important the Supreme Court reviewed the case.

''When I re-read the complaint, I felt that without representation, the Supreme Court will not get an accurate story of what really occurred,'' said Burge.

Burge said this was the first hearing he knew of to question the process of Ohio's death penalty -- not just the legal procedure, but the process used to kill the convicted.

The case has been a minefield for Burge, a prominent defense attorney who was elected as judge last year. Burge cited assistant prosecutor Tony Cillo for contempt due to a brief which Cillo filed against a motion to combine Rivera's case with another pending capital murder trial.

Burge eventually dropped the complaint against Cillo, claiming he was not sure who authored the brief which Cillo signed.