LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville judge's decision to kick the Jefferson County Attorney's Office off a case because the head of the agency knew the alleged victim and wanted to "help" him was unethical, irrational, absurd and "utterly opposed to the law," prosecutors wrote in court records.

But Jefferson District Court Judge Stephanie Pierce Burke refused to hear that argument Monday, noting the County Attorney's office is no longer a party in the criminal case brought by University of Louisville professor John Gilderbloom, who also is a landlord that had a dispute with some tenants in 2021.

On July 10, Burke disqualified County Attorney Mike O'Connell and his entire office, ruling prosecutors could not be "independent and impartial" after Gilderbloom contacted O'Connell, who then emailed his staff saying he knew Gilberbloom "personally" and "I want to help John."

In a written response late last week, O'Connell's office said it is his "ethical obligation" to help an alleged crime victim and that Burke took it "upon herself to personally malign the character of the Jefferson County Attorney.

"The blanket disqualification of the entire Jefferson County Attorney's Office was surely an overreach and an unlawful intrusion into the role of the prosecutor," according to the motion, which sought to overturn Burke's ruling. "It is impossible to state more conclusively that the facts believed to be true by Judge Burke are, simply put, not at all true."

While prosecutors were set to argue the motion Monday, Burke ruled the office is no longer involved in the case and any arguments on its behalf would have to be made by an outside agency, such as the Kentucky Attorney General or the Jefferson Commonwealth's Attorney's office.

In addition, Burke said, "I would overrule the motion if I were to hear it."

A request by the attorney for defendant Richard Hardacre to dismiss the case entirely was denied by Burke, and a new hearing date set for August 7.

The case started after Gilderbloom called O'Connell, who was on vacation at the time, in October 2021. O'Connell then emailed some of his top staffers about the situation, saying he knew Gilberbloom "personally" and "I want to help John."

The Oct. 14, 2021, email from O'Connell pointed out that he already had an administrative assistant look into the case and, among other things, noted that the tenant's wife worked for Hobby Lobby.

"That seems weird," O'Connell wrote of the woman's job, and proposed that prosecutors have Gilderbloom or his attorney, John Valentine, come in and talk about the situation. He also noted that these kind of tenant/landlord issues traditionally are handled in civil court.

A criminal complaint accused Hardacre of demanding money, threatening to hurt Gilderbloom and to "smear" the professor's "good name" in social media posts. Hardacre was charged with felony extortion.

The case has dragged on for nearly two years now, resulting in allegations of prosecutorial misconduct against O'Connell and his staff and motions to dismiss the criminal charge against Hardacre. O'Connell is in his fourth term in the elected position.

Burke accused the county attorney's office of sidestepping normal procedures where the prosecution gets involved after police investigate and charge someone with a crime.

But O'Connell's office argued in the motion that Gilderbloom was told to call police and file a complaint and the case was handled just as any other. Just because O'Connell knows Gilderbloom "does not change his role from that of zealous advocate to neutral arbiter," according to the motion to overturn the judge's ruling.

"This clearly erroneous ruling overlooks the vital and very public role of the elected prosecutor in communities and to victims of crime ignores the relevant facts, distorts or misapplies the relevant law, and impugns the character of the Jefferson County Attorney without any cause," prosecutors wrote.

In April, Hardacre's public defender, Steven Harris, asked Burke to dismiss the case because of "prosecutorial vindictiveness." He noted that Gilderbloom had talked by phone and emailed O'Connell asking for help and argued there was no proof a crime had been committed.

"The Jefferson County Attorney, Mike O'Connell, had decided to take it upon himself to assist someone he knew personally before any criminal action had been initiated," Harris wrote. "The only reason this case has continued for over 19 months is because of O'Connell's connection to the victim in the case."

In addition, Harris argues the evidence — including Facebook posts — is weak and argues that Gilderbloom harassed Hardacre and his wife about their dog.

Harris said the evidence shows "the basis of Dr. Gilderbloom's Criminal Complaint is not only false, but also there is no evidence that supports any allegations that Mr. Hardacre was attempting to extort anything from Dr. Gilderbloom."

The police citation says Gilderbloom wanted Hardacre to move out early and offered to pay him. Hardacre allegedly asked for more money and made threats, including that he would tell UofL that Gilderbloom was a bad landlord and go to authorities "about alleged crimes that were committed."

This story will be updated. 

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