The Ohio Supreme Court publicly reprimanded a Franklin County judge, Wednesday, after she lost her cool two years ago when a jury returned a verdict she didn’t like.
The state’s high court said Municipal Court Judge Amy Salerno acted inappropriately when she scolded jurors after they returned a not-guilty verdict in a misdemeanor case.
The court decided Salerno violated Judicial Code of Conduct rules which require judges to act in a way that promotes integrity and impartiality and bars them from “criticizing jurors for their verdict other than in a court order or opinion in a proceeding.”
The court said her actions also opened the state’s judicial system to criticism.
In 2013, Salerno told jurors their verdict was wrong. And she disclosed to them the defendant had additional criminal charges pending against him, evidence that was not disclosed at trial.
Salerno said in a statement that she deserves a reprimand and regrets the comments. She says she’s learned from the mistake.
Salerno’s current term ends in 2019.