LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville judge overturned a lower court's ruling disqualifying Jefferson County Attorney Mike O'Connell's office from a criminal case in which O'Connell knew the alleged victim and said he wanted to "help" him.
In a ruling Thursday, Jefferson Circuit Court Judge Ann Bailey Smith found that District Court Judge Stephanie Burke "erroneously" booted O'Connell and his office off the attempted extortion case against Richard Hardacre "with no legal cause to do so."
The case revolves around University of Louisville professor John Gilderbloom, who also is a landlord, and a tenant dispute with Hardacre that led to charges after Gilberbloom contacted O'Connell in October 2021 about Hardacre allegedly physically threatening him.
On July 10, Burke disqualified O'Connell and his entire office, ruling prosecutors could not be "independent and impartial" after 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 O'Connell's office appealed the ruling to circuit court and Bailey Smith found that O'Connell was only acquainted with Gilderbloom, finding they had met and talked on the phone a few times but never had dinner together and Gilderbloom hadn't ever contributed to the county attorney's campaign.
She called the relationship "short-termed and devoid of any social contact.
"Even more importantly, there is no evidence at all here, much less objective evidence, that Mr. O'Connell took any action that indicated he was prejudiced against Mr. Hardacre."
In addition, Bailey Smith ruled the case was handled like any other, with prosecutors referring it to police and no proof O'Connell directed his staff to "treat the case any differently than the typical case."
Judge Burke declined to comment because the Hardacre case is still pending before her.
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.
Bailey Smith said the comment about Hardacre's wife's employment was "perhaps unfounded and overly judgmental," but it was not proof he was going to treat Hardacre different than any other defendant.
Attorney Steven Harris, who represents Hardacre, said they were reviewing the ruling and planning what to do next, including whether to take the case to the Kentucky Court of appeals.
Harris has argued that 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 last month. "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."
Judge Bailey Smith said part of the reason the case has been pending for so long is that Hardacre was not appointed an attorney for almost a year after he was charged.
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."
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.
Judge Bailey Smith ruled that removing O'Connell's office from the case would set a bad precedent where it would prohibit prosecutors from taking a crime report from a victim the prosecutor knew.
"This would have a particularly large impact in smaller counties where everyone seems to know practically everyone else," she ruled.
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