BY JANICE MORSE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Judge Marrs
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He was known as a hard-as-nails judge who presided over notorious cases, including the murder trial of James Ruppert, who was accused in the Easter 1975 shootings of 11 family members in Hamilton.
Judge Robert L. Marrs, a prominent figure in Butler and Hamilton counties for about a quarter-century, died Wednesday in a Florida hospital, following a two-week stay. He was 81.
Reminiscing about his former law partner and mentor, current Butler County Common Pleas Judge John R. Moser on Friday recounted the little-known story of what enticed Judge Marrs to leave his native Chicago and move to Hamilton.
During a visit to the Butler County city, "(Judge Marrs) was walking down High Street, and in one city block, two people nodded and said, "Hi.' He thought, "What a friendly town.' And that was how he decided to move here," Judge Moser said. "When he came to town, he came with political ambitions."
Judge Marrs joined numerous civic and professional groups, and worked to reach the top post in almost all of them, Judge Moser said, adding, "He was a workaholic. He had difficulty handling idleness."
After serving seven years as Butler County prosecutor, he became a Hamilton municipal judge, then ascended to the county Common Pleas Court bench in 1968, where he remained for a decade.
During those years, he frequently served as a visiting judge in Hamilton County, "so often that they put his name on the door," Judge Moser said.
Two of those Hamilton County cases were especially notable:
In 1972, he handed out what was then termed "one of the harshest penalties ever" in an obscenity case. He fined Queen City News $205,000 and its manager $20,500 for 41 obscenity counts.
In 1977, he presided over the aggravated murder trial of Stanford Ervin, who was convicted of strangling an 82-year-old woman. But the judge, in what was said to be an Ohio first, asserted his discretion under the state's 1974 death penalty statute and refused to send Mr. Ervin to the electric chair. He said it would be "manifestly unfair, a great injustice" to impose it, partly because a co-defendant coerced Mr. Ervin.
Certainly the best-known case he was involved in was the infamous Ruppert case in 1975. Because of appeals, overturned convictions and a new trial, the matter wasn't settled until seven years later.
In 1982, Mr. Ruppert was convicted of just two of the murders and was found not guilty by reason of insanity in the other nine.
By that time, Judge Marrs had already retired, after three frustratingly slow years as a Butler County probate judge.
Judge Marrs retired from his probate judgeship in 1981 and moved to Florida shortly thereafter.
The Cincinnati Enquirer, in an article about his retirement, quoted Judge Marrs as saying that he liked his reputation for being all business and hard-nosed.
"I don't condone a lot of nonsense and foolishness (in the courtroom)," he said. "I believe in abiding by the rules and getting the business over with."
At his request, Judge Marrs' death is being handled the way he handled life.
There will be no funeral service, said his son, James -- "in accordance with his wishes."
The National Cremation Society in Port Charlotte, Fla., handled arrangements.
Besides his son in Florida, other survivors include his wife of 61 years, Helen, also in Florida; and two daughters, Linda Spyke in Michigan and Virginia Waring in Massachusetts.
Because of Mr. Marrs' active role in the Shriners organization, the family requests memorial contributions to the Shriners Burns Institute, 3229 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati 45229.
