In Inside Courts, retired judge Tom Hodson explains the complexities of the law and legal cases, helping you understand what’s at stake — and how it affects you.
Athens County Common Pleas Judge Patrick Lang has been in the center of a legal whirlwind lately. He’s had two major cases before him and one more may be on its way.
One controversial case involved the two brothers who were handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement by the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail, the Athens County Sheriff’s Department and the Athens County Prosecutor’s Office, while state criminal cases were pending against them.
The second legal mess concerns the status of Nelsonville’s city government, and another Nelsonville case may be on its way.
All the cases present rather unique legal questions. Judge Lang has not had a host of legal precedents to help him with his decisions. He is plowing new ground and that is always difficult for a judge.
Over the next two columns, I will break down the issues confronting Judge Lang and how he is handling them. This column will focus on the Laguna brothers and their battle with ICE.
The next column will focus on the ongoing legal quagmire that concerns the City of Nelsonville’s form of government.
Victor Laverde Laguna and Gregory Laverde Laguna
Background
Victor Laguna and Gregory Laguna were arrested Sept. 24 as part of a sting operation for the alleged theft of nearly $100,000 from a senior Athens County resident.
The brothers claimed that they were just paid couriers for a third party, and they had no idea what they were transporting. Neither of the men speak or read English. All communication has been through translators.
In a court filing, Victor’s attorney Scott Petroff claimed that neither brother had the mental state or mental capacity to have committed the crimes with which they were charged.
Regardless of claiming innocence, Victor was indicted for two felonies, and Gregory was charged with one.
Both defendants pleaded not guilty and bond was set for Victor at $100,000 and on Gregory at $40,000. Both were allowed to post 10% of the total bond but neither had the money to be released.
For over 30 days, both defendants were in the Southeast Ohio Regional Jail while their cases progressed.
Then on the morning of Monday, Oct. 27, the prosecutor’s office filed surprising motions to modify both defendants’ bonds.
Assistant Prosecutor Ashley Johnson asked the court to release both defendants without any cash bond — a release based just on their promises to return.
If the defendants had been released, ICE could have immediately grabbed the defendants. It seems like the prosecutor’s office was trying to pave the way for an ICE interception.
At a hearing on Oct. 28, Judge Lang did not reduce the bonds. Instead, he set the matter for an overall status conference for Nov. 12 with all the attorneys — and all the parties — present.
Despite Judge Lang’s rulings, ICE appeared at the regional jail and took custody of the brothers at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 29.
Later that day, the prosecutor’s office filed motions to dismiss both cases “with prejudice,” which means that the cases could not ever be refiled against the defendants.
But the brothers had already been transported to Butler County by ICE, while their Athens County cases were still pending.
On Nov. 4, Judge Lang ruled that before the cases can be dismissed, there must be a hearing in open court with the defendants present and the alleged crime victim being notified. He said he was following the criteria of Criminal Rule 48 for a dismissal.
That hearing occurred before a packed courtroom of spectators on Nov. 12.
Nov 12 Hearing
First, the brothers were returned from ICE custody in Butler County to appear in the Athens courtroom as ordered by Judge Lang. Originally, there was some question whether that would happen.
Score one for Judge Lang.
Secondly, at the hearing, the assistant prosecutor orally presented motions to dismiss the cases with prejudice and provided Judge Lang with a written dismissal order for him to sign.
During the hearing, Public Defender Doug Francis argued that he wanted language in the dismissal entry to be signed by the court exonerating the two brothers.
Assistant Prosecutor Ashley Johnson would not proclaim the brothers’ innocence or exonerate them, and Judge Lang indicated that he could not force the state to do so.
Judge Lang, however, informed the prosecutor that case law in Ohio favored dismissals “without prejudice.” A dismissal “with prejudice” is generally used when a defendant’s statutory or constitutional rights would be violated by further prosecution.
After a recess, the prosecutor still would not say anything to exonerate the defendants and instead, asked that the original motion be amended to a dismissal “without prejudice.”
Dismissals “without prejudice” would cast a pall over the pending immigration cases of the brothers, whereas a “dismissal with prejudice” would show that the brothers had not committed any crimes.
Francis asked Judge Lang to go ahead and order the cases dismissed “with prejudice” despite the prosecutor’s amended motion.
The judge did not rule from the bench at the Nov. 12 hearing. Instead, he indicated that he would issue a written opinion within 48 hours.
Judge Lang’s Decision
On Friday, Nov. 14, Judge Lang issued his decision. The first sentence of the decision is telling.
“The motion pending before the Court is seemingly without precedent,” Judge Lang wrote.
Judge Lang didn’t have many, if any, guidelines to follow.
He acknowledges that the state had two motions to dismiss before the court: one with and one without prejudice.
He also mentions that the defendants want a dismissal with prejudice to perhaps positively affect their upcoming immigration cases.
Judge Lang reiterated the facts that both brothers are presumed innocent unless or until they are proven guilty. So, he says, they are innocent at the time of the dismissal.
But he went further: “After inquiry by the Court during the hearing, the state then moved to amend their motion to a dismissal without prejudice. The Court having considered both motions finds that the first motion was correct. In the interest of justice, the Court denies the amendment made in open court and grants the Oct. 29 motion. All charges against the defendants are dismissed, with prejudice.” (Emphasis added.)
In other words, Judge Lang gave the immigrants a clean slate as for any state criminal charges. They can now go forward through the immigration process without any criminal charges or convictions.
Aftermath
The brothers were taken back into ICE custody right after the hearing on Nov. 12.
According to Immigration Court records, their cases are pending and both Victor and Gregory are scheduled to have hearings at 8 a.m. Nov. 25 before Judge Jennifer M. Riedthaler-Williams in Cleveland.
Judge Riedthaler-Williams is one of 10 immigration judges in Cleveland. She graduated from Case Western Reserve University Law School in 2001, when she became an assistant prosecuting attorney in Lorain County. Then-U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr appointed her to the San Francisco Immigration Court in May 2019; she was moved to the Cleveland Immigration Court in August 2019.
Judge Riedthaler-Williams’ decisions are watched closely by groups following immigration cases. According to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, Judge Riedthaler-Williams denied asylum in over 79% of the cases she decided 2019–2024, nearly 2 percentage points higher than her fellow Cleveland immigration judges.
“Immigration Court judges across the country denied 57.7 percent of asylum claims during this same period,” TRAC reported.
We await the outcome of next week’s hearing.
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