But Lyons called the jail Saturday morning and said “I want an OR bond for Mike Smith and a stay-away order,” said Major Mike Craft, of the sheriff’s office. Smith, a retired sheriff’s deputy, would have had to spend the rest of the weekend in jail, if not for Lyons’ call, since the earliest he could have appeared in court would have been Monday.
Smith was arrested Saturday after his wife Melina, also a retired deputy, called sheriff’s dispatchers from a store on Ohio 73 and said she was afraid her husband was going to get violent and hurt her, Craft said. She had left the couple’s Wayne Township home to make the call and meet with deputies, he said.
Smith was booked into the jail at 9:35 a.m. and released on his own recognizance at 11:48 a.m. Smith had no contact with anyone other than the phone calls he placed while in custody, Craft said.
Lyons declined to comment when contacted by this newspaper, saying he would not talk about a pending case.
This is not the first time a Butler County judge has been criticized for such an action, nor the first time Lyons’ name has been mentioned in connection with the early release of a domestic violence offender. Law enforcement officials say it is rare, but not unprecedented, that a judge would call the jail and order the release of a detainee
In 2013, Area II Judge Kevin McDonough made a similar call to the county jail requesting that attorney Jeff Meadows, an associate at Lyons and Lyons Attorneys at Law, which is a law practice owned by Judge Lyons, be released on bond shortly after being arrested and charged with misdemeanor domestic violence. Meadows called someone from the jail after his arrest, but it is unknown who that was because the phone line is not one that is recorded. However, a copy of the sheriff’s office report on Meadows lists Lyons’ name and cell phone number as a contact.
McDonough admitted to ordering Meadow’s release but declined to say who called to ask him to do it. Lyons declined to comment at that time about the incident as well.
Gmoser cried foul nearly two years ago, saying such actions by judges give the appearance of “special treatment.” The prosecutor again took issue Sunday with the release of a former sheriff’s deputy on bond before a proper court hearing.
“Absolutely there has to be a hearing with the defendant present,” Gmoser said, adding he will be filing paperwork Monday to have Smith’s bond revoked. “If that doesn’t happen, it is gutting Amy’s Law.”
Amy’s Law is named for a Liberty Township woman who was shot in the head by her husband who bonded out of jail after trying to kill her. The law now requires a judge to see and hear the defendant and their mindset before setting bond.
“A judge can’t just say, ‘Let’s just let them go.’ The law says we can’t just do that anymore because somebody might get killed,” Gmoser said.
Jones said he call Gmoser once he found out about Lyons’ call to the jail because he was “very concerned.”
“When (Smith) was released, I was as shocked as everyone else was. There was no hearing,” the sheriff said. “This is not the way it’s supposed to work. People charged with domestic violence are supposed to stay in jail until they are seen by a judge.
“But I had no choice; it was an order from a judge,” Jones said.
Gmoser said Smith’s case will now have to be heard in Area II or Area III court because his attorney is Jonathan Fox, a law partner of Lyons, and it is a conflict for the judge to hear the case.
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