Jamie Madrigal, who is charged in the 1996 murder of Misty Fisher, will get a new judge because of potential conflicts that could arise if Judge Gary Cook would remain on the case.
Judge Cook yesterday recused himself from the case during a hearing in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to address pretrial issues in Madrigal's death-penalty case.
He later said a potential conflict of interest could develop because of his role as an assistant prosecutor in the prosecution of Gerald Robinson in the 1980 ritualistic slaying of a nun.
Madrigal, 31, and an accomplice, Chris Cathcart, were convicted in the shooting death of 18-year-old Misty Fisher during a robbery at the KFC restaurant at South Avenue and Anthony Wayne Trail on April 12, 1996. Madrigal's conviction was thrown out last year when a three-judge panel on the U.S. 6th Circuit of Appeals in Cincinnati agreed with a lower federal court ruling that jurors should not have heard Cathcart's statement implicating Madrigal in the crime.
Judge Cook said the recusal stems from the "remote possibility" that he potentially could become involved in a book or movie project on the Robinson murder investigation with Assistant Prosecutor Dean Mandros and Toledo Police Detective Sgt. Steve Forrester.
Sergeant Forrester, a member of the Toledo police cold case squad, investigated the shooting death of Ms. Fisher; Mr. Mandros is the prosecutor assigned to the Madrigal case.
Judge Cook, who was elected to the bench in 2004, and Mr. Mandros were among the assistant prosecutors who worked with Sergeant Forrester on the cold-case murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl.
Robinson, 68, was convicted of murder on May 11 in Common Pleas Court in the strangulation and stabbing of Sister Margaret Ann in a chapel at the former Mercy Hospital.
The former priest is serving a 15-years-to-life sentence in the Warren Correctional Facility in southern Ohio. He is believed to be the first U.S. Roman Catholic priest convicted of murdering a Roman Catholic nun.
The trial for Madrigal, 31, was scheduled to begin next week with the selection of a jury.
Instead, the court will begin the process of finding a new judge to handle the case.
Ron Wingate, one of Madrigal's defense attorneys, said Judge Cook notified him of the possibility for the potential conflict during a pretrial hearing in June.
Madrigal could have waived the potential conflict, keeping Judge Cook on the case. But "my client didn't feel comfortable with the potential for that type of situation being established. He felt it was best to have [Judge Cook] remove himself from the case," Mr. Wingate said. Judge Cook said he felt it was important to reveal the situation for the potential conflicts involving the Robinson case with Madrigal's attorneys, especially because the murder was a capital offense.
Contact Mark Reiter at:
markreiter@theblade.com
or 419-213-2134.
First Published August 1, 2006, 10:37 a.m.
