BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A judge ruled Friday that a clerical error by prosecutors was not a good enough reason to throw out five charges against the lawyer accused of stealing voice-mail messages from Chiquita Brands International Inc.
The attorneys for George Ventura, a Salt Lake City lawyer, had asked the judge to dismiss the charges because prosecutors left out a key phrase in the indictment against him.
But in a ruling Friday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Judge Ann Marie Tracey concluded the inadvertent omission could be corrected without violating Mr. Ventura's constitutional rights.
"Neither the penalty nor the degree of the offense will change by adding" the phrase, Judge Tracey wrote in her decision. "Nor does the amendment unduly prejudice the defendant."
Special Prosecutor Perry Ancona notified the judge of the omission last week in a formal request to add the phrase. The request referred to the final five counts of the 10-count indictment and involved the felony charge of unauthorized access to computer systems. Mr. Ancona told the judge the phrase is important because it makes it clear no one associated with Chiquita gave Mr. Ventura permission to access the company's voice-mail system.
He said the phrase - "or other person authorized to give consent by the owner" - specifies that Mr. Ventura did not receive permission from the company.
Although prosecutors described the omission as a "clerical error," Mr. Ventura's attorney opposed the addition on grounds that it changed the meaning of the indictment and violated his client's rights.
Defense attorney Marc Mezibov declined comment Friday on the judge's ruling.
The charges against Mr. Ventura, a former legal counsel for Chiquita, arose from a grand jury investigation into allegations that The Cincinnati Enquirer used stolen voice-mail messages in articles it published in May about the company.
The newspaper later renounced the articles in a front-page apology, fired the lead reporter and paid Chiquita more than $10 million.
