Hillsboro mayor's court record unsealed
Lead Summary
By
The Highland County Press-
An affidavit regarding criminal charges filed on Hillsboro Mayor Drew Hastings on Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016 was unsealed Wednesday evening.
The affidavit, signed by Sean A. Mahorney, alleges that Hastings asked Mahorney and his wife to use city Dumpsters for demolition work on a building owned by Hastings in the summer of 2015. Hastings then allegedly asked the Mahorneys to “lie about it” in January 2016.
“The summer of 2015, myself and my husband did demo work on the Annex building for Drew Hastings,” the affidavit states. “During demo, Drew gave us keys to city dump gate and ask [sic] us to take garbage from demo down and dump it in the city dumps, so his Dumpster didn’t overfill. He gave us his truck to use and assured us it was fine.
“[On] Jan. 4, 2016, Drew contacted us by phone about the dump, he ask [sic] us to lie about it and he stated that my husband and I would probably not even get into trouble, but if we did get a fine he would pay it for us.”
The complaint of prosecuting attorney based upon an affidavit in the Hillsboro Municipal Court reads:
“The defendant, W. Drew Hastings, did on or about the 4th day of January 2016, did purposely or knowingly, when purpose or knowledge is sufficient culpability for the commission of obstructing official business, in the City of Hillsboro, County of Highland and State of Ohio, did engage in conduct that, if successful, would constitute or result in the offense of obstructing official business in violation of Ohio Revised Code Section 2921.31, in that, W. Drew Hastings, without privilege to do so and with purpose to prevent, obstruct or delay the performance by a public official of any authorized act within the public official’s official capacity, shall do any act that hampers or impedes a public official in the performance of the public official’s lawful duties, by asking witnesses in a criminal investigation to falsely incriminate themselves and not W. Drew Hastings; in violation of Ohio Revised Code Section 2932.02(A), a third-degree misdemeanor.
“The Court finds probable cause that the above criminal offense was committed and that the Defendant named therein committed the offense based upon the attached affidavit. A warrant shall issue upon the above complaint and bond terms pursuant to separate order.”
On Jan. 6, upon motion of the state and for good cause, the summons issued in the case was recalled and the complaint was dismissed without prejudice to refiling.
On Jan. 7, a motion was made “to seal the record due to pending efforts to collect additional evidence which could be jeopardized if the dismissed action were publicly disclosed.”
As previously reported, Hillsboro Police Chief Todd Whited and HPD Captain Jeff Murphy met with The Highland County Press on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 6, 2016, and asked the newspaper to withhold publication of information about the case until the investigation was complete. They said they were working with Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera and his office on the case.
On Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, The Highland County Press emailed Hillsboro Municipal Court Judge David McKenna, Hillsboro City Law Director Fred Beery and Hillsboro Police Chief Todd Whited seeking clarification and comment on the case.
Judge McKenna responded: “A criminal complaint was filed against Mayor Hastings on Jan. 5, 2016 in the Municipal Court for attempted obstruction of official business, a third-degree misdemeanor. No arrest warrant was issued. A summons on the complaint was issued.
“As per our routine protocol, when the complaint was entered, it appeared on the Municipal Court website. Shortly thereafter, the prosecutor (Hillsboro City Law Director Fred Beery) requested that the website information be taken down until the complaint could be served. This would be similar to a sealed indictment. I had the clerk remove the website information until the complaint was served. Any further information would need to come from the prosecutor.”
Later, McKenna informed The Highland County Press that the case was dismissed on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
At 5:26 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, Chief Whited said he had spoken with Sgt. Chris Bowen at the sheriff's office and that the investigation is ongoing.
According to a Dec. 16, 2015 search warrant signed by Judge Rocky Coss and executed on the Hillsboro City Building, there was probable cause to believe that in the city of Hillsboro the following criminal offenses have occurred:
• Forgery, in violation of 2913.31 of the Ohio Revised Code; and,
• Theft in office in violation of 2921.41 of the Ohio Revised Code.
On Dec. 22, 2015, Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins told The Highland County Press that she has requested a special prosecutor from DeWine’s office, saying “an attorney that specializes in this type of law needs to be involved.” On Jan. 14, special prosecutor Robert F. Smith, Deputy Legal Counsel for the Auditor of State, was appointed, followed by the appointment of Julia Korte, Chief Investigative Attorney for the Ohio Ethics Commission, as an assistant on Jan. 25.
The affidavit, signed by Sean A. Mahorney, alleges that Hastings asked Mahorney and his wife to use city Dumpsters for demolition work on a building owned by Hastings in the summer of 2015. Hastings then allegedly asked the Mahorneys to “lie about it” in January 2016.
“The summer of 2015, myself and my husband did demo work on the Annex building for Drew Hastings,” the affidavit states. “During demo, Drew gave us keys to city dump gate and ask [sic] us to take garbage from demo down and dump it in the city dumps, so his Dumpster didn’t overfill. He gave us his truck to use and assured us it was fine.
“[On] Jan. 4, 2016, Drew contacted us by phone about the dump, he ask [sic] us to lie about it and he stated that my husband and I would probably not even get into trouble, but if we did get a fine he would pay it for us.”
The complaint of prosecuting attorney based upon an affidavit in the Hillsboro Municipal Court reads:
“The defendant, W. Drew Hastings, did on or about the 4th day of January 2016, did purposely or knowingly, when purpose or knowledge is sufficient culpability for the commission of obstructing official business, in the City of Hillsboro, County of Highland and State of Ohio, did engage in conduct that, if successful, would constitute or result in the offense of obstructing official business in violation of Ohio Revised Code Section 2921.31, in that, W. Drew Hastings, without privilege to do so and with purpose to prevent, obstruct or delay the performance by a public official of any authorized act within the public official’s official capacity, shall do any act that hampers or impedes a public official in the performance of the public official’s lawful duties, by asking witnesses in a criminal investigation to falsely incriminate themselves and not W. Drew Hastings; in violation of Ohio Revised Code Section 2932.02(A), a third-degree misdemeanor.
“The Court finds probable cause that the above criminal offense was committed and that the Defendant named therein committed the offense based upon the attached affidavit. A warrant shall issue upon the above complaint and bond terms pursuant to separate order.”
On Jan. 6, upon motion of the state and for good cause, the summons issued in the case was recalled and the complaint was dismissed without prejudice to refiling.
On Jan. 7, a motion was made “to seal the record due to pending efforts to collect additional evidence which could be jeopardized if the dismissed action were publicly disclosed.”
As previously reported, Hillsboro Police Chief Todd Whited and HPD Captain Jeff Murphy met with The Highland County Press on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 6, 2016, and asked the newspaper to withhold publication of information about the case until the investigation was complete. They said they were working with Highland County Sheriff Donnie Barrera and his office on the case.
On Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, The Highland County Press emailed Hillsboro Municipal Court Judge David McKenna, Hillsboro City Law Director Fred Beery and Hillsboro Police Chief Todd Whited seeking clarification and comment on the case.
Judge McKenna responded: “A criminal complaint was filed against Mayor Hastings on Jan. 5, 2016 in the Municipal Court for attempted obstruction of official business, a third-degree misdemeanor. No arrest warrant was issued. A summons on the complaint was issued.
“As per our routine protocol, when the complaint was entered, it appeared on the Municipal Court website. Shortly thereafter, the prosecutor (Hillsboro City Law Director Fred Beery) requested that the website information be taken down until the complaint could be served. This would be similar to a sealed indictment. I had the clerk remove the website information until the complaint was served. Any further information would need to come from the prosecutor.”
Later, McKenna informed The Highland County Press that the case was dismissed on Wednesday, Jan. 6.
At 5:26 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, Chief Whited said he had spoken with Sgt. Chris Bowen at the sheriff's office and that the investigation is ongoing.
According to a Dec. 16, 2015 search warrant signed by Judge Rocky Coss and executed on the Hillsboro City Building, there was probable cause to believe that in the city of Hillsboro the following criminal offenses have occurred:
• Forgery, in violation of 2913.31 of the Ohio Revised Code; and,
• Theft in office in violation of 2921.41 of the Ohio Revised Code.
On Dec. 22, 2015, Highland County Prosecutor Anneka Collins told The Highland County Press that she has requested a special prosecutor from DeWine’s office, saying “an attorney that specializes in this type of law needs to be involved.” On Jan. 14, special prosecutor Robert F. Smith, Deputy Legal Counsel for the Auditor of State, was appointed, followed by the appointment of Julia Korte, Chief Investigative Attorney for the Ohio Ethics Commission, as an assistant on Jan. 25.