In July 2014, the disciplinary panel held a two-day hearing in Columbus in which many employees of the Butler County Prosecutor’s Office testified, as well as Phillabaum.
The Supreme Court’s disciplinary counsel found fault with Phillabaum’s handling of the Tyree Johnson case.
In December 2010, assistant prosecutor Josh Muennich submitted charges to a Butler County grand jury against a defendant accused of aggravated robbery and felonious assault. Phillabaum reviewed the indictment a week later and told a legal assistant to add gun specifications to it. Muennich refused to sign the altered indictment, but Phillabaum signed it.
Based on his conduct, Phillabaum was indicted in May 2012 for forgery, dereliction of duty, tampering with records, interference with civil rights and using a sham legal process. After entering the guilty plea to dereliction of duty, a visiting judge sentenced Phillabaum to 90 days of suspended jail time if he completed one year of community control and probation.
The attorney disciplinary board determined that Phillabaum also violated four professional conduct rules, including one prohibiting lawyers from lying to a tribunal and another that bars conduct that harms the administration of justice.
Phillabaum could not be reached for comment on Tuesday. Butler County Prosecutor Michael Gmoser, who fired Phillabaum on the night of his appointment to the office by the county’s Central Committee to the office declined comment.
Voting with the majority were Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor and Justices Terrence O’Donnell, Judith Ann Lanzinger, Sharon L. Kennedy and William M. O’Neill.
Justices Paul E. Pfeifer and Judith L. French dissented and would have imposed the board-recommended suspension of one year with six months stayed.
About the Author
