Barrister of the Month
The Honorable Jeffrey M. Welbaum Second District Court of Appeals Judges ought to be more learned than witty, more reverend than plausible, and more advised than confident. Above all things, integrity is their portion and proper virtue. ~ Francis Bacon, “Essay LVI: Of Judicature,” Essays (1625)
W
hen Bacon wrote that essay in the early seventeenth century, he must have imagined self-government, an independent judiciary, and judges like Jeffrey Welbaum. Born in Troy, Ohio, Judge Welbaum graduated from Troy High School in 1970. Four years later, he graduated with a bachelor’s degree cum laude from Defiance College. Onward he went to Ohio Northern University where he worked his way through the Pettit College of Law obtaining his juris doctor degree in 1977. From law school, Judge Welbaum began his legal career in public service, first as a Miami County assistant prosecuting attorney, then as a Miami County assistant public defender, all while maintaining a private practice in state and federal court with the Troy law firm of Miller, Schlemmer and Luring. In 1985, Judge Welbaum reverted from defending the accused to prosecuting them as the elected Miami County Prosecuting Attorney, a ten-year career pursuit interspersed with periodic appointments as a special assistant United States attorney. After fifteen years as a trial judge in the Miami County Court of Common Pleas, eight as its drug court jurist, Judge Welbaum stepped down from the bench to return, once again, to prosecuting as the Chief of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine’s Criminal Justice Section. Over his many years as a prosecutor, Judge Welbaum tried dozens of cases, and prosecuted hundreds more. As with every seasoned trial lawyer, a select few of those cases are cemented into Judge Welbaum’s memory. One such case was a death penalty murder-for-hire case that Judge Welbaum tried as the newly-elected Miami County Prosecuting Attorney. The case involved a hitman and middleman both of whom pled to reduced charges after agreeing to testify against a husband accused of contracting for the murder of his wife during their divorce. The husband was represented by well-known defense attorney, the late Howard Swinehart. With at least tacit encouragement from Swinehart, and with information fed to him by the hitman’s wife (who had visiting privileges with her husband in the jail), the hitman gave repeated and conflicting statements to law enforcement about the 8
Dayton Bar Briefs November 2020
Judge Welbaum & Wife Peg at Red Square, Moscow
husband’s involvement in the crime. It was reportedly the hitman’s view that there was no reason for all three defendants to go to prison, if one of them could skate. As was his duty, Judge Welbaum gave each witness statement to Swinehart as they became available. On the eve of trial, Judge Welbaum was preparing his opening statement when a red-faced homicide detective informed him that his hitman star witness had demanded to have sex with his wife, or he would not testify. Knowing that Judge Welbaum was preoccupied with his trial preparation, the detective tossed a mattress into the back of a Chevy van, drove the van to the rear jail house door, and aided the belly-chained hitman into the van. News of the rendezvous inspired revisions to Judge Welbaum’s opening statement. Neither the rendezvous, nor the opening statement surprised Swinehart. Rather, as Judge Welbaum recalls, Swinehart seemed oddly sympathetic. The hitman testified to the basics. He shot and killed the victim. The middleman had indeed hired him. Nevertheless, the hitman was a marvelous witness for the defense, agreeing to Swinehart’s every point, inference, or suggestion on cross-examination. Predictably, the husband was acquitted. Fittingly though, after serving his time on the reduced charge, it was reported in the news that the hitman was shot repeatedly in the back and killed in southeastern Ohio by an angry husband after a high-speed car chase. In a 1988 case, a woman was seen running down a Piqua street in broad daylight with a man following close behind shooting her in the back as she screamed for help. The victim fell on porch steps begging for the help of an elderly woman rocking in a chair. Looming behind the victim was a male holding a revolver clicking on empty and pointed at the victim’s back. The witness and the shooter made eye contact. The elderly woman was about six feet from the suspect before he fled in the direction of the police station. She was the only witness able to identify the suspect from photo lineups. After shooting the victim, the defendant ran directly to the police station and reported that he had witnessed the crime. continued on page 9
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