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LISBON -- The criminal case filed against John Gamble over a 2020 campaign photo is over and can't be appealed, with Judge David Stucki granting an acquittal of the remaining two charges due to insufficient evidence.
"From the very beginning, this was nothing but a political pile of horse dung," attorney Nick Barborak said. "I think this is a good day for justice, but I hope it's not over. My hope is the people who conspired to violate Mr. Gamble's rights are held accountable."
Gamble and his defense attorneys, Ron Yarwood and John Juhacz, declined to comment after the jury trial ended, with Gamble deferring to Barborak, a friend and former chairman of the Columbiana County Democrat Party. Barborak had been called as a witness for the defense in the case, but the defense team opted not to put any witnesses on the stand.
Gamble, 59, had been charged by the Ohio Attorney General's Office with four counts of misdemeanor complicity to violate Ohio's Little Hatch Act, which prohibits classified employees from participating in partisan political activity.
The case involved a photo of both classified and unclassified police officers with him during his failed 2020 campaign for county prosecutor, along with posts on a Facebook page named John Gamble for Prosecutor which said the officers supported him. The charges specifically dealt with two East Liverpool city police officers who at the time were classified employees.
A jury trial for the case started Wednesday and continued Thursday morning in Columbiana County Municipal Court, but the proceedings ended quickly with jurors never returning to the courtroom and never getting the chance to deliberate or issue a verdict.
The state, represented by Senior Assistant Ohio Attorney General Dan Kasaris, presented it's evidence and witnesses Wednesday, then at the end of the day moved to dismiss two of the four counts against Gamble.
Specifically, Kasaris asked to dismiss the counts of complicity dealing with soliciting or procuring two classified East Liverpool city police officers to take part in politics by having them pose for the photo. He said there wasn't evidence of procurement. The defense did not object and the motion was approved.
Stucki, a retired visiting judge from Stark County, started Thursday by overruling defense objections to certain state exhibits, including photos and screenshots of Facebook posts, and overruled a defense motion to dismiss the case.
The defense then rested without putting any witnesses on the stand and again renewed the motion to dismiss, known as Ohio Criminal Rule 29 Motion for Acquittal, which means once the evidence on either side is closed, the defense or the court can order an entry of acquittal of one or more offenses charged in the complaint if the evidence is insufficient to sustain a conviction of the offense or offenses.
Stucki granted the motion and dismissed the two charges, noting that the court is to consider the Rule 29 motion in a light most favorable to the state, but shall grant the motion if the state "fails to offer probative evidence on every material element which is necessary to constitute the crime."
In the written entry, he said "the state has adduced no evidence that the defendant aided or abetted these law enforcement officers, that there is no evidence that he supported, assisted, encouraged, cooperated with, advised, incited, urged, the principal offenders in the commission of the crime; and there was no evidence that he shared the criminal intent of the principal. Mere association with the principal or presence at the scene of the crime is not enough."
Court costs were ordered paid by the state of Ohio. After the hearing, Kasaris said he could not comment. A message was left at the Ohio Attorney General's office, asking for comment, but the call wasn't returned.
None of the police officers were charged, just Gamble, after Columbiana County Republican Party Chairman David Johnson complained about the photo, asked Gamble to take it down, and then contacted Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost about the complaint. Yost sent a letter to Gamble, then had the charges filed when Gamble declined to remove the photo. There were actually two photos, one with four East Liverpool police officers and one with several officers from throughout the county, both with Gamble and on the Facebook page John Gamble for Prosecutor.
The defense contended that the classified police officers had a right to free speech through the First Amendment.
"The criminal justice system cannot be used to gain advantage in partisan political races," Barborak said.
Another witness who had been on the defense list was Johnson, whose attorney had filed a motion in an effort to prevent him from having to testify, claiming he wasn't going to be in town at the time of the trial, that the subpoena came at the last minute and questioning the relevance of any testimony he could give. In response, Yarwood and Juhasz pointed out that Johnson was the one who complained about the photos and posts.
The judge had overruled the motion to quash the subpoena and ordered that he appear either in person or via Zoom. Arrangements had been made for him to appear via Zoom, but then the defense opted against having any witnesses testify.
Barborak said he acted as Gamble's attorney when an attempt was made to keep him off the ballot during the 2020 election. Then the criminal case was filed. He said this seems to be common play in Columbiana County and it's time for it to stop.