Pomeroy Daily Sentinel - Case against former attorney dismissed in Gallia
by admin on Nov.30, 2011, under Home insurance
GALLIPOLIS — A case against a former Gallipolis attorney charged with theft of $9,670 in insurance money has been dismissed in the Gallia County Court of Common Pleas.
A journal entry filed on November 17 and signed by Presiding Judge P. Randall Knece and Special Prosecutor Melinda Kowalski of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office states that the 2010 case against John R. Lentes, 56, Crown City, be dismissed without prejudice.
Lentes was alleged to have stolen the insurance funds from the female victim between December 2007 and January 2009.
In the 2010 felony case, the defendant pleaded not guilty during his arraignment on May 12, 2010, and was subsequently granted permission to represent himself.
After no negotiated plea agreement was filed in this case by the deadline, a jury trial was set in this matter for September 28, 2010.
A journal entry filed on December 17 of last year and signed by then Presiding Judge Fred W. Crow, III — Gallia County Common Pleas Judge D. Dean Evans recused himself from the case — states that, prior to the scheduled jury trial, the state and the defendant notified the court that a plea hearing had been negotiated in this matter.
A plea hearing was later scheduled, and Lentes appeared with his counsel Attorney Charles H. Knight of Pomeroy.
During this hearing, an inconsistency in the indictment and proposed written plea agreement was discussed and the counsel for the defendant indicated that this mistake changed both the identity and nature of the alleged crime.
Due to the mistake — an inconsistency in the numerical designation within the Ohio Revised Code section listed on the indictment — the defendant withdrew the proposed guilty plea, and the state indicated its desire to dismiss the charge and then reindict the defendant to proceed with the case.
The state later submitted its wish to the court to dismiss the case; however, the entry filed last December indicates that “the Court did not find that there was a defect in the indictment, and the State does not have the authority to dismiss the case.”
A jury trial was subsequently rescheduled for January 27, 2011, and, after being continued once more at the request of the state and again at the behest of the judge, the trial was scheduled for May 3, 2011, in the common pleas court.
In a motion filed on April 13, 2011, Kowalski requested the court dismiss the indictment in this case and that the “request for dismissal is based on the fact that the victim lacks the ability to testify due to medical reasons. Based on her inability to testify, the State does not have sufficient evidence to proceed. Additionally, the State is aware of other incidents in which the defendant was involved in and is preparing to go to Grand Jury based on those events.”
Within a journal entry filed on April 29 in response to the state’s motion, the court expresses concern for the victim in this case and further denies the state’s motion for dismissal, “Of utmost importance to the Court is that there is no approval from the alleged victim or the victim’s family and/or advocate. The case has been delayed so many times.
“If the delays caused by both parties now prevent the alleged victim’s right to restitution, such as loss may very well be an extreme hardship. If so, then the legal system has failed. The alleged victim may lose any chance to recover significant damages due to dilatory action of the parties.
“The Court has no facts upon which to continue the trial date as the attorney general’s motion does not comply with local rules. There is no memorandum of authority per local rule and the State’s motion contained little detail. Further, all dismissals should be done in open court and are discretionary with the Court. There is no basis to dismiss in the record other than conclusory statements. There is no consent of the the alleged victim or any victim advocate. For the above reasons, the State’s motion for dismissal should be and hereby is denied.”
Judge Crow, due to medical reasons, later withdrew as trial judge in this matter in an entry dated May 3, 2011.
An entry filed May 25 and signed by Maureen O’Conner, Chief Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court, assigned Paul Randall Knece, Judge of the Pickaway County Court of Common Pleas, to Lentes’ case.
A notice of a hearing entry was filed on June 27 and schedules a hearing in the common pleas court on July 12 in this matter.
The final entry, file stamped on November 17 and signed by Judge Knece on November 14, states, “The state requested this Honorable Court to dismiss without prejudice the cases against John Lentes, 10CR000089. The Court grants this motion. This is a final entry. It is so ordered, adjudged and decreed.”
Lentes, who served two terms as Meigs County Prosecuting Attorney from 1993-2001 and later opened a practice in Gallipolis, was disbarred in 2008 following a hearing before the Ohio Supreme Court.
The disbarment came after complaints from at least three former clients who were represented by Lentes in civil matters between 2004 and 2007.
After an investigation, the supreme court’s Board of Grievances and Discipline found that Lentes had been dishonest, negligent and incompetent in his representation, and had even gone so far as to forge the signature of Gallia County Common Pleas Judge D. Dean Evans to a false judgment document in 2007.
Lentes was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1985.
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