Ohio Judge’s Complaint about Opponent’s ‘Robocalls’ Advances
An Ohio judge’s complaint about false statements in his election opponent’s automated “robocalls” to potential voters has advanced to the state’s election commission.
The complaint by Judge John Connor of Franklin County targets candidate David Goodman for claims that the judge released an admitted criminal, the Columbus Dispatch reports. The ad failed to state the defendant had made a plea agreement. The call to 130,000 potential absentee voters said:
“You may remember David Goodman’s opponent, John Connor. He put you and your family at risk when he released a man charged with 20 counts of rape and placed him on probation even after he admitted to sexually assaulting two young boys.”
Connor says the defendant had already agreed to plead guilty to charges of sexual battery by the time the case reached him, according to the story. The judge sentenced the defendant to five years of probation and intense supervision.
A panel of the Ohio Elections Commission found probable cause yesterday to forward the complaint to the full commission, the story says.
In a similar case, an ethics complaint accuses Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman of misrepresenting the facts and making false statements in a campaign ad.
