Louisville judge denies request to postpone case Jefferson County Attorney's Office was disqualified from

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville judge denied a request by Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell's office to delay a case in which a district court judge disqualified the entire office, ruling prosecutors could not be impartial since O'Connell knew the alleged victim and wanted to "help" him.

On Monday, O'Connell filed a suit in Jefferson Circuit Court asking a judge to prevent District Court Judge Stephanie Burke "from taking any judicial action based upon the erroneous and illegal holding."

Circuit Court Judge Ann Bailey Smith ruled Thursday the attempted extortion case against Richard Hardacre can continue without the Jefferson County Attorney’s office while she hears arguments about whether to overturn Burke’s ruling.

Hardacre has a hearing in front of Judge Burke on Monday, and it is unclear who will be there to prosecute him, whether it be the Kentucky Attorney General’s office, the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office or someone else.

On July 10, Burke disqualified O'Connell and his entire office, ruling prosecutors could not be "independent and impartial" after University of Louisville professor John Gilderbloom, who also is a landlord, contacted O'Connell in October 2021, about a tenant dispute.

O'Connell emailed his staff saying he knew Gilberbloom "personally" and "I want to help John."

Burke ruled normal procedures weren't followed and "a number of O'Connell's staff acted upon his expressed intention that he 'wanted to help Gilderbloom.'"

But in Monday's lawsuit, which is technically called a "writ of prohibition," prosecutors argue "there is not a scintilla of evidence to support the claim that somehow the normal practices and procedures to initiate a criminal case in Jefferson County were not followed."

Assistant County Attorney David Sexton argued Thursday the disqualification order has “no basis in fact” and the case needed to be put on hold until Bailey Smith decided whether to overturn Burke’s ruling.

Judge Bailey Smith asked what sort of hearing was coming up Monday. She was told it was a review and there is not currently a trial date.

“I could see if differently if it were set for trial, but it’s set for review,” she said.

Attorney Steven Harris, who represents Hardacre, said any delay is only hurting his client and urged the judge to allow it to proceed. He also noted the case has dragged on for nearly two years and questioned why the county attorney wanted to stay on it so badly.

“For some reason … they want to hold on to it for dear life,” he told the judge. “The county simply needs to accept the fact that they have been recused from this, that they have incredible bias … due to Mr. O’Connell.”

Harris is required to respond to O’Connell’s lawsuit within 20 days of it being filed.

A 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."

Hardacre and his attorney have argued no crime has been committed and the evidence — including old Facebook posts — is weak and claims that Gilderbloom harassed Hardacre and his wife about their dog.

In a previous written response to Burke's decision, 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 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.

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 argues 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," the prosecution has argued.

Burke ordered that another agency, such as the Jefferson Commonwealth's Attorney or state Attorney General's office, take over prosecution.

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