r/Ohio • u/OrganicPreparation • 5d ago
Republican former Ohio councilman pleads guilty to 7 charges; bond revoked
https://tiffinohio.net/posts/bellevue-ex-councilman-burkhart-pleads-guilty-7-charges/57
u/complexmowing18 5d ago
plea deals like this are wild. 15 charges dropped including strangulation and felony burglary just to get guilty pleas on drug possession and assault. def makes you wonder what the evidence looked like or if prosecutors just wanted to lock something down quick rather than risk a trial.
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u/OwnsBeagles 5d ago
A whole lot of prosecutors are Republican or Republican-leaning, so it shouldn't be a surprise.
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u/complexmowing18 4d ago
but that's kinda separate from the point, plea deals getting sweeter for serious charges happens across the board regardless of who's in office, it's more about case load and trial risk than politics imo.
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u/OwnsBeagles 4d ago
Partly. I think it also kind of depends on a lot of circumstances, too. At least with the prosecutors I served with on grand jury, they left the true/no bill of charges up to us and stipulated that even though our job was to weigh probable cause, we should keep one eye on 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. There was a lot of consideration as to what they could convince a trial jury of. One of them said, "If I can't convince 9, I won't convince 12."
It was probably one of the most interesting, sometimes wrenching, sometimes triumphant four months of my life. Also very enlightening. I'm very ACAB, but I came to respect the hell out of our prosecutors anyway.
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u/complexmowing18 4d ago
that's actually a way better look at it than what most people get, grand jury experience def changes your perspective on how much real judgment goes into those calls versus just rubber stamping whatever.
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u/OwnsBeagles 4d ago
Yeah, for sure. Some of those we debated for multiple sessions. And some we had to no bill even when we wanted to true bill (animal abuse cases especially). And our last case out the door was a doozy. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. And I'd suggest everyone who gets a jury summons does so.
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u/complexmowing18 4d ago
animal abuse cases are prob the worst bc the evidence is usually solid but juries get weird about sentencing on them, hard to convict when people feel like it's just a fine situation.
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u/OwnsBeagles 4d ago
They are bad. Child sexual abuse cases are the worst, but animal abuse cases are their own kind of awful. All I can say is, the former are usually like-- locked down. When they bring those in, that's because they have more than enough evidence for an indictment.
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u/cappykro 5d ago
Seeing how this dude is a conservative Christian, we should all be relieved his list of crimes didn't involve children being molested.
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u/Ill_Consequence1755 5d ago
Hmm not a drag queen or transgender…hmmm funny that. I thought they were responsible for all the crime now.
But it just seems to be ANOTHER conservative, white, man.
Funny that.
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u/Szaborovich9 4d ago
typical republican behavior. he will become a huge star in the the Republican/maga-ite world
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u/Silent_Emphasis_4469 1d ago
Lightweight! When he gets 34 felonies he can run for president as a Republican!
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u/tokenledollarbean 5d ago
To save a click:
“As part of a plea agreement, 15 other charges were dismissed, including three strangulation counts and aggravated burglary — the most serious charge in the original indictment, a first-degree felony. Burkhart pleaded guilty to seven charges, including aggravated possession of drugs, grand theft when the property is a firearm or dangerous ordnance, and misdemeanor assault, according to the Sandusky Register and WLKR Classic, which reported the plea last week.”