By Mary LeBus
CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Hamilton County Probate Court Judge Ralph Winkler was publicly reprimanded and forced to pay disciplinary court fees on Wednesday after making “inaccurate” and “demeaning” statements on Facebook about a former case.
In October of 2023, the Ohio State Bar Association charged Judge Winkler with professional misconduct “for permitting” his assistant court administrator, Scott Weikel, to make false statements to a news reporter and posting those inaccurate comments online, according to a per curiam opinion.
These claims and Winkler’s punishment stem from a 2013 Hamilton County court case involving Mary McCulloch, and her three adult children: Theresa McClean, Kathleen Bosse and John Robert McCulloch.
Background
Mary, who was an 83-year-old widow, filed an application in the probate court to have a conservator who was not a family member in July 2013, the opinion slip reads. In the application, she alleged that she was competent , and the probate court appointed an attorney to her conservatorship.
One month later, McClean applied to terminate the conservatorship, claiming her mother was not competent. McClean then filed to be her guardian, however, Mary’s conservator filed a contingent guardianship application.
In 2014, the probate court deemed Mary incompetent, which ultimately terminated the conservatorship she applied for herself. However, since she was deemed incompetent, the court assigned the same attorney to be her guardian.
At this point, Winkler was not the Hamilton County Probate Court judge.
Winkler takes the bench
During the Fall of 2015, Winkler was the sole probate court judge. He later allowed for the appointment of another attorney to be Mary’s guardian when her previous one resigned.
Unhappy with the decision, Kathleen and Rob sent numerous emails and letters to the probate court, accusing the guardian of misconduct and submitting complaints about the whole process.
Additionally, Winkler said he found three websites that used the name of the guardian and two probate court magistrates. While it is unknown who made the websites, Winkler claimed it was Rob and Kathleen.
Fast forward to January 2019, a news reporter reached out to Winkler’s office regarding the McCulloch case.
Weikel, who is under the judge’s supervision, told the reporter that Mary “was removed from her home because it was a squalid, unsafe living environment” and Rob “was not properly caring for her,” court documents state.
The reporter then asked Rob for comment, emailing him what Weikel said. Rob responded that the comments were not true.
In March of 2019, a detective with the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office sent Rob a letter stating that he had allegedly sent a “threatening and harassing correspondence” to the probate court magistrate and several assistant prosecutors. As a result, Rob was no longer allowed to contact the prosecutor’s office or the magistrate again about his mother’s guardianship, the opinion says.
A digital trail
On Oct. 23, 2020, Winkler posted an interview titled “14 questions with Kendal M. Coes” on his “Hamilton County Probate Court, Judge Ralph Winkler” Facebook account. Nearly two years later, Rob left a comment on that post that was critical of the magistrate.
Using his Hamilton County Facebook account, Winkler responded to Rob with the following:
“Rob McCulloch you’re just mad because we had to intercede and take care of your mother when you did not. You were living in your Mothers house in deplorable conditions. I am glad a nice neighbor called Senior Services and we got your Mother into a safe, Clean and healthy care facility. God only knows what would have happened to her if a Good Samaritan neighbor had not reported this elder abuse. The home photos in evidence don’t lie. Anyone in the public can look at them as they are part of your Mother’s case file.”
During his disciplinary hearing, Winkler said Rob wrote a response back on Facebook. Court documents say the judge responded with the following:
“You lost your case because you were wrong. You interviewed this poor woman with dementia with leading and suggestive questions to try to prove you weren’t wrong. However, you were wrong for not taking care of your mother. When you did make it to Court you often reeked of alcohol. Plus, You also missed many hearings for unknown reasons. Don’t try to blame my court or Magistrate Coes for your shortcomings as a son. I am glad your neighbor reported this to the Authorities. Your mother could have died or suffered needlessly if my Court didn’t help her.”
Winkler admitted that his and Weikel’s statements were false, misleading and that the photos he had seen of Mary’s home were taken “sometime after” she had been moved to an assisted living facility.
In addition to admitting to other inaccuracies in his claims, the court could not determine if anyone else had seen the comments Winkler had posted on Facebook since he deleted them moments later.
Ohio
Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy and Justices R. Patrick
DeWine, Michael P. Donnelly and Melody Stewart joined the opinion.
Full Article & Source:
Ohio Supreme Court reprimands Hamilton County judge for ‘false claims’ about a case
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