Judge Grendell's poison pen does no good to the atmosphere of Ohio's 11th District Court of Appeals: Brent Larkin

By Brent Larkin / The Plain Dealer /January 10, 2010, 4:30AM

But that gigantic talent gap hasn't stopped Grendell, and to a lesser extent O'Toole, from using their lofty positions to behave like petty ward heelers in an attempt to discredit Trapp, their much-brighter judicial colleague and an announced candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court.

In the midst of what smells like a conspiracy to smear Trapp is the Ohio Republican Party, crowing over a court filing in which Grendell condemns Trapp for lacking civility and promoting a "them vs. us" judicial climate. But I have obtained internal court e-mails that clearly show that when it comes to a lack of judicial civility, Grendell has problems of her own.

Grendell, O'Toole and Trapp are three of the five judges who sit on the 11th District Ohio Court of Appeals, which reviews cases decided by trial courts in Lake, Geauga, Portage and Trumbull counties.

There the similarities end.

Trapp, 53, serving in her first term, is clearly that court's brightest star. She is a former president of the Ohio State Bar Association and in two judicial campaigns won the highest ratings possible from her bar association peers. In a 2004 endorsement, The Plain Dealer concluded, "Trapp is precisely the kind of level-headed, thoughtful, experienced lawyer who ought to be on the appellate bench" -- a candidate "with enormous potential to excel."

Despite the paper's backing, Trapp lost to Republican O'Toole in the general election. She was elected to the appellate bench two years later.

Grendell, 64, has been on the court since 2001. She is a popular figure in Geauga County politics. Her performance has earned passing ratings from bar associations, but the defining moment of her career came when, as a state legislator, she sued her Republican colleagues for removing from a pending budget bill a $30,000 grant for her home county's airport. In 1999, a unanimous, Republican-controlled Ohio Supreme Court laughed her complaint out of court, declaring it a frivolous invasion of the legislative process.

O'Toole, 47, won a judgeship on her fourth try for the bench. While certainly an engaging personality, she received at least one "not recommended" rating from the Cuyahoga County Bar Association.

For the last two years, Trapp has been elected the court's presiding judge. Her 2009 election prompted Grendell to file an unheard-of written dissent, which the Ohio GOP now absurdly cites as evidence that Trapp is unfit to serve on the state's highest court.

O'Toole dissented, too, minus the inflammatory language Grendell used.

Grendell's rant focused on the claim that "a level of civility and professional congeniality is necessary for the effective and efficient operation of the court. In my opinion, Judge Trapp simply does not foster such civility or congeniality in our court."

But civility and congeniality didn't seem to be on Grendell's mind on June 23, 2008, when she wrote in an e-mail to Judge O'Toole that her "trademarks" include "gratuitous editorial comments, badgering counsel (almost to tears) and tardiness." Or on July 30, 2008, when -- shortly after O'Toole's father had passed away -- Grendell wrote her Republican colleague, complaining of her "sophomoric comments" and "unpredictable and sometimes unjudicial behavior."

"When you ran for a position on our court, you represented to certain voters that you would be a judge like Judge Diane Grendell," wrote the judge. "Nothing could be further from the truth."

Asked about her writings to O'Toole, Grendell's initial reaction was, "Those are personal e-mails. How did you get that?" She also said that if I were to write about the internal e-mails, "It'll be nuclear."

Of her problems with O'Toole, Grendell said that they had "worked it out."

"We have a dysfunctional court," said Grendell. "All of us [the five judges] have asked for mediation from the Supreme Court."

Trapp declined to comment on Grendell's e-mails, but conceded a history of bitter infighting among the court's judges that dates back to "long before I got there."

Despite the obvious Republican maneuvering to discredit her, Trapp is virtually certain to win the Democratic primary for the Supreme Court and face Republican incumbent Justice Judith Lanzinger in November.

On the day Trapp announced her candidacy, Ohio GOP Chairman Kevin DeWine referred to fellow Republican Grendell's criticism of Trapp as "troubling and, frankly, an embarrassment to Ohio's judicial system."

He certainly got that right.

Larkin was The Plain Dealer's editorial director from 1991 until his retirement in 2009.

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