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Judges rule Burkons’ case can’t be heard in Chardon court—Cleveland Jewish News

A three-judge 11th District Court of Appeals in Warren ruled unanimously that Chardon Municipal Court Judge Terri L. Stupica, who the case had been transferred to, doesn’t have subject-matter jurisdiction in the case, agreeing with the arguments of Burkons’ lawyer Peter Pattakos. The ruling was made Feb. 11 and signed by Judges Cynthia Westcott Rice, Matt Lynch and Mary Jane Trapp. Chardon law Director Benjamin G. Chojnacki, a partner at Walter | Haverfield Attorneys at Law in Cleveland, wrote the brief on behalf of Stupica, arguing that she had jurisdiction. …

“The bizarre procedural irregularities continue to underscore the fact that this retaliatory and shameful prosecution never should have been brought in the first place,” Pattakos wrote in a Feb. 11 email to the CJN. “With this case now officially languishing in no-man’s land, we hope the University Heights prosecutor will finally come to her senses and just drop it.”

In addition, Pattakos wrote, “It has been repeatedly made clear to the University Heights prosecutor as well as the Beachwood Law Department that the charges against Burkons constitute a clear violation of his civil rights and we will continue fighting to vindicate those rights and uphold Burkons’ right to do his job and speak freely about government affairs, as he was elected to do by the citizens of Beachwood.”

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