Van Wert judge's law license suspended

7/16/2010

VAN WERT, Ohio — In a 6-0 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday suspended Judge Phil Campbell's law license for professional misconduct between 2003 and 2007.

As a result, Judge Campbell will not preside over Van Wert Municipal Court for six months. The suspension was for a year, but the court, voting 6-0, stayed six months of the suspension.

Judge Campbell, who has been on the municipal bench since 1987, was found by the Supreme Court's Board of Commissioners on Grievances and Discipline to have improperly questioned witnesses in a police investigation, pressured the city law director's secretary to give him criminal investigation files to which he was not entitled, denied appointed counsel to qualified indigent defendants, and compelled Van Wert's mayor to appear in his courtroom for questioning about an administrative matter.

The judge could not be reached for comment Thursday night.