Dick Ambrose to be judge on Sowell case

[ATENEARS]

Anthony Sowell case transferred to Judge Dick Ambrose

By Plain Dealer staff

April 23, 2010, 9:54AM

View full sizeHandoutCuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Dick Ambrose

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The case against Anthony Sowell, a Cleveland man accused of killing 11 women and keeping their remains at his house on Imperial Avenue, has been transferred to the docket of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Dick Ambrose.

Ambrose was chosen through a random draw conducted by Administrative Judge Nancy Fuerst. He is the third judge on the case.

The first judge, Timothy McGinty, stepped down in December.

Ohio Supreme Court Acting Chief Justice Paul E. Pfeifer on Thursday removed Judge Shirley Strickland Saffold from hearing the case.

Pfeifer made the ruling based on comments posted on cleveland.com about the Sowell case. The comments were posted through a username created with an AOL e-mail address used by Saffold. The judge has denied making the comments, and her 23-year-old daughter has said she posted them.

Pfeifer found no evidence to suggest that Saffold made the postings, but he found the comments have "created a situation that 'poses an impediment to the judge's ability to resolve any remaining legal and factual issues in a way that will appear to the parties and the public to be objective and fair.' "

Suspected serial killer Anthony Sowell appears for a pre-trial hearing before Cuyahoga County CommonCourt. Sowell's attorneys are Rufus Sims, left, and John Parker, right.

[sisky fringo]

see, i told em there were heavily pigmented serials too!

"killin, no longer just a deranged white-thang!"