Misdemeanors Draw Proposed Suspension

Five misdemeanor convictions - one for assault, two for disorderly conduct, one for telecommunications harassment and one for menacing - and three protection orders drew a proposed indefinite suspension for the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct.

After he had stipulated to violations, he stated at the hearing that he was trustworthy and not dishonest.

A disorderly conduct conviction involved an office visit with a woman and the two daughters  that they had together who were ages six and eight. He squeezed the eight year old's neck so that she could not breath and told her to "shut up."

He was found not guilty of domestic violence and assault but then pled no contest to disorderly conduct.

Respondent had a Facebook account with over 500 friends that included judges, attorneys and court clerks.

His obscene and threatening posts involving C.H. are set out, including his threat to release a video of a sex tape and hashtags of her maiden, married and current names.

He pled no conest to a misdemeanor.

In a custody matter, he made Facebook threats against opposing counsel who had filed a custody motion.

She filed a police report and was concerned about her physical safety.

He pled no contest to misdemeanor menacing.

The Ohio Court of Appeals Second Appellate District had affirmed an assault conviction.

On January 28, 2020, Hartley was charged by complaint with one count of assault in violation of R.C. 2903.13(A), a misdemeanor of the first degree. The charge stemmed from allegations that Hartley struck the victim, L.J., in the face during a physical altercation after L.J. resisted sexual advances from Hartley. Hartley pled not guilty to the charge and the matter proceeded to a two-day jury trial beginning on July 28, 2021.

At trial, the State presented testimony from several witnesses, including L.J. L.J. testified that after she got off work on the evening of Friday January 24, 2020, she noticed that she had missed a telephone call from Hartley. L.J. explained that Hartley was an attorney who had previously represented her adult son in a criminal matter. When L.J. saw that Hartley had called her, she thought that her son might have been in trouble. L.J. testified that she returned Hartley’s missed call with a text message asking: “Did you call?” and that Hartley responded: “[Y]es."

L. J. was concerned about him and invited him to stay at her house

L.J. claimed, however, that she made it very clear to Hartley that she was inviting him over as a friend and not for purposes of sex. L.J. testified that she told Hartley that he could sleep in her bedroom and that she would sleep in her 13-year-old daughter’s bedroom.

He arrived visibly intoxicated

While they were sitting on the living room couch, L.J. testified that Hartley began to say inappropriate things about E.T. L.J. specifically recalled Hartley’s saying that E.T. was only 13 and had a “tight ass.”

Later he threw a wine glass at her when she declined to provide him with anal sex

L.J. testified that, after Hartley threw the glass of wine, he told her that he wanted to “fuck [her] daughter in the ass” and then immediately ran upstairs toward E.T.’s bedroom. L.J. ran after Hartley, but when she and Hartley got to E.T.’s bedroom, they discovered that E.T. was gone. Upon realizing that E.T. was missing, L.J. testified that she panicked and told Hartley to call 9-1-1. Shortly after calling 9-1-1, L.J. received a text message from E.T. stating that she was at her father’s house. As a result, L.J. told the police officer who responded to her 9-1-1 call that everything was okay.

The alleged assault followed

After all the testimony and evidence was presented at trial, the jury deliberated and found Hartley guilty of assault. At sentencing, the trial court ordered Hartley to serve 180 days in jail with 170 days suspended and three years of supervised probation. 

The appeals court rejected alleged prosecutorial misconduct as a basis to reverse the conviction. (Mike Frisch)