BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
The lawyer accused of stealing voice-mail messages from Chiquita Brands International Inc. is still looking for a judge to hear his case.
One day after the original judge withdrew because of a potential conflict of interest, two more stepped aside Tuesday for the same reason.
"We're judge-less," said John Feldmeier, one of the defense attorneys.
The main problem is that the judges who have been assigned the case so far have received campaign contributions from Chiquita Chairman Carl H. Lindner Jr. or his family.
The defendant, George Ventura, is a former legal counsel for Chiquita. He is charged with five counts of unlawful interception of communications and five counts of unauthorized access to computer systems.
He was indicted in September by the grand jury investigating allegations that a former Cincinnati Enquirer reporter used stolen voice-mail messages in articles published in May about Chiquita's business practices.
The reporter, Michael Gallagher, has pleaded guilty to two felony charges and is cooperating with prosecutors. The newspaper fired Mr. Gallagher, renounced the stories and agreed to pay Chiquita more than $10 million.
Mr. Ventura's attorneys have said the issue of campaign contributions is important, noting that Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters appointed a special prosecutor because Mr. Deters also had received Lindner family donations.
The case originally was assigned to Common Pleas Judge Ralph Winkler, but he withdrew Monday after disclosing several recent donations from the Lindners.
A random assignment sent the case to Judge Ralph Nurre, who withdrew for the same reason, and then to Judge Melba Marsh, who stepped aside "in the interest of justice."
Assignment Commissioner Henry Stacey will randomly assign the case again Thursday.
