Judge Amy Salerno of Columbus, OH; ethical dwarf

The state of Ohio presented Amelia Angela Salerno  with a law license in 1982 after she graduated from

Ohio State University Law School.

In November 2004, Amy duped the voters in the greater Columbus area into electing her as a Franklin County Common Pleas Municipal Court Judge.

The Ohio State Bar Association has filed an ethics complaint against Judge Salerno for engaging in the following misconduct.

Salerno’s misconduct relates to handling of the July 29-Aug. 1, 2013 trial of Joseph McGhee on assault and disorderly conduct charges. (Columbus Dispatch, Randy Ludlow)

Judge Salerno was surprised and dismayed after the jury returned a not guilty verdict.

Salerno then told the jurors they had returned the “wrong” verdict. In addition, she told the jurors that prosecutors believed they had “a slam-dunk case” against McGhee.

Salerno also told jurors that McGhee had a pending case wherein he was charged with aggravated menacing and witness intimidation for allegedly threatening to shoot witnesses in his trial. Prosecutors subsequently dismissed those charges.

Salerno was well aware of the Code of Judicial Conduct that prohibits a judge from commending or criticizing jurors for their verdicts. However, Salerno’s conduct is reminiscent of comments made by a bandito in the Marlon Brando movie, Treasure of Sierra Madre. In this case, Judge Salerno basically said “I don’t need no stinking rules.”

All that’s left now is to see what if any punishment the Ohio Supreme Court metes out to Judge Salerno. At worst she’ll likely receive a complimentary reprimand.