DeWine defends corruption in court case

A disgraced former sheriff's detective has at least one friend in Columbus with a little clout: Mike DeWine. Sean O'Connell, who served in law enforcement for more than two decades in Sandusky County, was convicted last month of criminal wrongdoing during his investigation into Heather Bogle's murder. He could get three years in prison when he's sentenced next month.In another botched case, DeWine is defending O'Connell's integrity against credible claims he railroaded a county man into a prison cell by manufacturing evidence and giving false testimony against him. Patrick Baker Sr., in a lawsuit, claims he was wrongfully convicted in a 2014 burglary and wrongfully imprisoned. An appeals court agreed with that contention, previously, and ordered Baker freed from state prison in 2016. More than a year later, the judge dropped all charges against Baker at the request of a special prosecutor, who said no credible evidence existed to take to trial.But DeWine, arguing against the request Baker be declared a wrongfully imprisoned person, contends Baker must prove his innocence before the court could make such a ruling. That turns the very foundation of our criminal justice system — the state's obligation to meet a burden of proof when prosecuting a criminal case against a private citizen — on its head.The court motion filed on DeWine's behalf, in his role as state's defense counsel in the lawsuit, demanding a private citizen prove his innocence, reads like one of DeWine's political ads, a short message that is neither accurate nor intending to be accurate. DeWine, for two terms as Ohio attorney general, has been blind to obligations, moral and sacred, the same in this instance. It shows.It is clear that Patrick Baker Sr. was wrongfully convicted and wrongfully imprisoned by the state. The appeals court already found that to be the case. The local court — in this lawsuit — can now acknowledge its failure to properly serve the cause of justice, remove the case from its jurisdiction (there's an obvious conflict presiding over it), or it can continue to violate the public trust and rule in DeWine's favor.Patrick Baker is every man. He had no criminal history prior to being falsely accused by Sean O'Connell, prior to his unfortunate encounter with the former detective, who after years of complaints from other families in other investigations, was finally caught and convicted this year. Baker is any one of us, at any time — in our homes, in our cars, in our neighborhoods. What happened to him — the sheer terror of being falsely accused by the state, falsely imprisoned, taken away from our families and having three years of our lives stolen — could happen to anyone of us, at anytime. Baker and the families who spoke out against him are the heroes who sidelined a detective, put him in check.Those are issues upon which the state's attorney should focus, our would-be governor. But DeWine's track record is reflected in his stance in this court case, against common sense, common decency. His allegiance defending a corrupt detective and a corrupted court comes at the public's expense, at everyone else's expense.