Their judge shopping ended up in lip service. Update to this previous story.
Via Cleveland Com
Local activists asked an appeals court Thursday to order Cleveland Municipal Court Judge Ron Adrine to issue arrest warrants for the two police officers involved in the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.
In a motion filed with the 8th Ohio District Court of Appeals, the activists contend that Adrine erred last week in concluding that he lacked the authority to issue arrest warrants for officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback.
“It is clear that [the statutes] require Judge Ronald Adrine to issue felony warrants forthwith in light of his finding of probable cause, good faith, and meritorious affidavits,” the motion says.
At the request of activists, Adrine reviewed the evidence from the Nov. 22, 2014 fatal shooting of Tamir and issued a June 11 opinion that probable cause exists to bring criminal charges against Loehmann and Garmback.
Adrine concluded that Loehmann should face charges for murder, involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide, negligent homicide and dereliction of duty. The judge also found probable cause for Garmback to face charges of negligent homicide and dereliction of duty.
But Adrine stopped short of issuing arrest warrants for the officers, as sought by the activists, saying that his role is “advisory in nature.”
The issue boils down to an interpretation of a rule and two statutes. The activists contend in their motion that Adrine is required to issue warrants under two state statutes that allow citizens with knowledge of a case to ask a judge to review the case.
In his decision, Adrine argues that a rule governing arrest warrants allows him to issue a warrant only if prosecutors issue a criminal complaint. And that rule, he wrote, trumps the state statutes.