Sunday, January 30, 2000
10,000 cases
Common pleas court reaches plateau
By Jefferson Wolfe
Staff Writer
On Jan. 24, Seneca County Common Pleas court reached a new plateau: the 10,000th criminal case was filed.
According to information from Judge Michael P. Kelbley, it took 52 years and three months to get from that first case to case number 1,000. However, it took just three years and four months to get from case 9,000 to case 10,000.
Common pleas criminal cases have been numbered sequentially since the first case was filed in June 1859. According to records from the Seneca County Clerk of Courts office, there were criminal cases as far back as 1825, but the numbering system had not been used.
According to county records, case number one was a rape charge against Alois Myers, alleging child sex abuse. After a trial, Myers was found not guilty of the charge. Another rape case against Myers, involving a different youth, was case number two, but the prosecutor decided to nolle prosequi the case, or not prosecute it.
Court records stated one child was less than 10 and the other less than 11 years old.
The prosecutor in the cases was R.S. Griffith, who continued to prosecute cases until 1861, records show. Defense attorneys G.K. Watson and W.P. Noble were listed in both cases.
As time progressed, the number and frequency of cases increased until World War II, when criminal prosecutions slowed for more than 20 years.
The war itself was responsible for some of the slowing, retired judge and county prosecutor Thomas Spellerberg said.
"During World War II, almost everybody was working," he said.
Spellerberg came to Tiffin in 1951 as an attorney. He was elected prosecutor in 1960 and left the office in 1984. He was common pleas judge from 1986 until he retired in 1998. Drug offenses were not common when he was first elected prosecutor.
"We didn't have the drugs," Spellerberg said. "They just kept picking up and picking up and picking up."
He also said there was less violent crime.
"Our resources &emdash; it's a good thing we didn't," said former Seneca County Sheriff Robert Wagner. Wagner was sheriff from 1961-1969 before leaving to become a federal marshal.
When Wagner took office, he had four or five employees.
"While I was there, we got the third car," Wagner said.
In the county jail, the population was much smaller than today's, which is usually between 80-100.
"If I had 20, I had a lot," Wagner said.
While Wagner and Spellerberg were in office, the number of common pleas criminal cases started to grow. By the time Wagner left office, he had doubled the number of his employees.
The prosecutor's office also grew. Spellerberg said the prosecutor's job was part time the whole time he was in office, and he was the only attorney. While in office, he hired the first assistant prosecutor. By the time he left, he had two other part-time attorneys working for him.
Now, the prosecutor's office has three full-time attorneys working just on criminal cases.
"We were in a growth industry," Spellerberg said.
Both Spellerberg and Wagner agreed that people had more respect for law enforcement in the 1950s and early 1960s.
"I think you had the respect of the people," Spellerberg said.
Both also said law enforcement officers treated citizens with respect. There was no favoritism shown to criminals, both said, just a different attitude between police and citizens.
"We never tried to throw our weight around," Wagner said. "I think people were just raised differently."
"We treated criminals with respect," Spellerberg said. "I've had two people come up and tell me if it weren't for me, they'd still be criminals."
Wagner recalled an incident in the old Seneca County Jail in which a man from Columbus was being held. The Columbus man convinced the other prisoners they were not going to be locked up that night. It was like a small uprising, he said.
Wagner said he decided to go into the jail himself and put the prisoners back into their cells. A deputy asked Wagner if he really wanted to go into the jail by himself with the unruly prisoners.
"I said I've got more friends in there than I have enemies," Wagner said, and he went into the jail.
"I pulled the guy I knew would listen to me, and put him back," he said Other inmates followed and eventually, all of them went back to their cells without any further incident.
To further illustrate the point, Wagner said he had a deal with a man who had been a house burglar.
"Any time he needed a place to stay, he came to the jail and he got it," Wagner said. The deal was contingent, however, on the promise that the burglar would not break into any more houses in the county.
There were crimes like break-ins, thefts and family and neighbor disputes, Wagner said. While there was less violence, there were still rapes and murders.
Farmers would have fenceline disputes and call the sheriff's office to help settle the problem, Spellerberg said.
"It was fun back then," Wagner said, and Spellerberg agreed. They both said they enjoyed their jobs as prosecutor and sheriff.
"I told him (Wagner), we just got out in time," Spellerberg said.
Since the 1960s, the number of cases continued to increase, to the point where a thousand cases have been filed in just under four years.
Kelbley said in the 1960s and 1970s, the drug offenses increased, especially those involving heroin and LSD. Those drugs, along with marijuana, have become more available.
Currently, the drug offenses continue to increase, especially those involving crack cocaine, which did not exist in the 60s and early 70s, Kelbley said. Kelbley also cited the recent development of computer and technology-related crimes &emdash;not just Internet and computer pornography crimes, but also credit card crimes and technology-based fraud cases.
Seneca County Prosecutor Kenneth Egbert Jr. said another factor in the increase in cases is that more felony charges have been put on the books, but no charges have been removed.
Youth crime is on the rise, and offenders are getting younger, Kelbley said.
"More serious felonies are being committed by young people," he said. The serious crimes are being committed by younger and younger people, to include 10- and 12-year-olds.
Egbert said because of the greater number of cases, he would like to add another criminal prosecutor. The number of attorneys in the prosecutor's office has not changed in 10 years, despite the increased caseload.