New prosecutor faces tough caseload (Lima)

?You hope you never have to come across these cases,? said Lammers, a resident of Ottawa since 1978, with the exception of his college years and eight months working in Toledo. ?We live in such a wonderful community, county, area, state and country that I just consider it a privilege to have the opportunity to represent people in this capacity.?

The routine cases prosecuting harassment and drunken driving moved to the side recently as a pair of potential death penalty case files moved onto Lammers? desk. 

Fort Jennings? Michael G. Luebrecht admitted to drowning his 13-month-old son, Joel Michael, in a conversation with a 911 dispatcher. That case goes to the grand jury Friday. 

Lammers also inherits the case of Kenneth Richey, who was convicted of murdering 2-year-old Cynthia Collins in a Columbus Grove apartment fire in 1986. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the conviction, and Lammers must decide if he?ll retry the case. 

?Those are difficult cases,? Lammers said. ?They can pull you into them, and you become emotionally involved in them many times. Any time you?re involved in a case in which emotions are heightened, it?s going to make those cases that much more difficult. They weigh on you heavily. I know it will weigh on me, much in the same fashion as it has for my predecessors and past prosecutors.? 

Luebrecht?s attorney, Lima lawyer Bill Kluge, succinctly summarized the tough days ahead for Lammers. 

?He certainly has a kettle of fish, doesn?t he?? said Kluge, a friend for the past 20 years who donated $100 to Lammers? election campaign. 

The county has other challenging court battles ahead. Lammers isn?t as directly involved with a pair of lawsuits against the county involving its economic development arrangement with the Putnam County Community Improvement Corp. until last summer. The county commissioners still consult him on those issues, though. 

The results of a jury trial from earlier this year also face a possible reversal. Attorneys for Luke Mansfield appealed his conviction for five counts of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. 

Lammers? office will also prosecute an alleged theft ring linked to nearly 80 thefts, with ties to Allen, Hancock, Paulding and Van Wert counties. 

?Many times you may find yourself feeling that you?re being pulled in a thousand different directions,? Lammers said. ?You?re going from one fire to another fire, to another fire, to another fire. You?re without the opportunity to maybe devote as much time as you?d like to it, to make sure that fire?s absolutely, positively taken care of.? 

Lammers might be new to his current role, but he certainly isn?t new to prosecuting. The 1989 Ohio Northern College of Law graduate served as an assistant prosecutor in Putnam County from 1990 to 2000 under former county Prosecutor Daniel R. Gerschutz, handling many juvenile cases and assisting on adult prosecutions. He spent two years as an assistant prosecutor for the city of Lima before taking on his own private practice. 

When he campaigned for prosecutor, Lammers pushed to replace the county?s traditional part-time prosecutor and its $50,991 salary with a full-time prosecutor and a $96,176 salary. He cut his assistant prosecutor staff down from four to two, with hopes of cutting that part of the budget by $38,000. 

In all, the switch to a full-time prosecutor will cost the county?s taxpayers about $50,000 more this year in salaries and benefits than the office spent last year under former part-time prosecutor Kurt Sahloff. The rental of office space for the prosecutor?s office involves $8,100 more per year spent from the county?s general fund. 

Recent events confirmed Lammers? beliefs the county needed a full-time prosecutor, despite its costs. 

?I?m thankful I decided to go full-time because of the demands and time constraints the job has placed on me,? Lammers said, ?especially in light of these most recent developments and serious cases we have before us.? 

One benefit of a full-time prosecutor was accessibility, said Putnam County Commissioner Bob Riepenhoff. Many county officials consult with Lammers before making major decisions. 

?He?s lived up to his promise to be accessible,? Riepenhoff said. ?When we call him, he is always available to us. I?m impressed with his advice. It seems to be based on a good knowledge of the Ohio Revised Code.? 

Now that knowledge will be put to the test in a county with few murders in its recent history. When the county did suffer a murder recently, it usually involved a minor. 

Aside from the Luebrecht and Richey cases, two other wrongful death cases included children. In June 2003, Ricky Daniels of Columbus Grove pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and child endangering in the death of his 6-month-old son, Trey Daniels. In May 2002, a jury convicted Marvin L. Martin II of Continental in the murder of his 15-year-old brother-in-law, Charles Plummer-Breckler, in Dupont. 

Lammers said he?d take the death-penalty questions in the Luebrecht and Richey cases very seriously. A Catholic who regularly attends Mass, he said he?d weigh the facts carefully before recommending anything. The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks out against capital punishment if ?bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons.? 

?Usually in most death penalty cases, the prosecutor is the individual putting that option out there,? Lammers said. ?He?s not the one ultimately weighing and making that decision, though. That?ll be the trier of fact making that decision. The ultimate decision lies in another group?s hands, so to speak.?