1

1 HAMILTON COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT

2 HAMILTON COUNTY, OHIO

3 - - -

4 )
STATE OF OHIO, )
5 )
State, )
6 ) CASE NO: 16/CRB/18093
vs. )
7 )
PETERSON WILLIAM MINGO, )
8 )
Defendant. )
9

10 - - -

11 TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS

12 HOUSING DOCKET

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14 APPEARANCES:

15 Keith Forman, Esq.

On behalf of the State.
16
Pro Se,
17 On behalf of the Defendant.

18

19 BE IT REMEMBERED that upon the

20 hearing of this cause, on May 9th, 2017, before

21 the Honorable Bernie Bouchard, a judge of the

22 said court, the following proceedings were had,

23 to wit:

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1 Morning Session, May 9th, 2017

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3 MR. FORMAN: Peterson Mingo. This

4 is set for report today.

5 THE COURT: Retaining wall.

6 MR. FORMAN: Yes.

7 THE COURT: Good morning, sir.

8 THE DEFENDANT: Good morning.

9 MR. MINIHAN: Your Honor, the

10 District Inspector, Tom Wise, reports

11 that on May 8th he spoke to Mr. Mingo on

12 site and explained that he was the new

13 inspector in the area and he gave him his

14 business card.

15 The owner stated that they were

16 working on getting permits to make the

17 repairs. As of today, there are no

18 permits on record so far to fix the

19 retaining wall and no visual work has

20 started on the retaining wall.

21 Apparently Mr. Mingo called several

22 times yesterday afternoon around 3:00

23 o'clock. There wasn't any way to get in

24 touch with the new inspector who was out

25 in the field where he was supposed to be.

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1 So that's -- there was an issue with him

2 not being able to get in touch with the

3 inspector. That's why. But other than

4 that, there's some talk about regrading

5 the backyard so he didn't have to rebuild

6 a retaining wall. Fine. He needs a soil

7 engineer to design how he's going to

8 grade out the backyard. If he puts a new

9 wall up, he needs plans and a permit for

10 how he's going to put the wall up. That

11 was explained to him several times by our

12 inspectors, by the permit people. That's

13 the only option he has as far as

14 repairing the wall is concerned. He can

15 do one or the other, but he has to get

16 plans for both. And that's where we

17 stand now.

18 THE COURT: Mr. Mingo --

19 THE DEFENDANT: Yes.

20 THE COURT: -- what have you done?

21 You haven't done anything, have you?

22 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, we have, Your

23 Honor.

24 THE COURT: Tell me.

25 THE DEFENDANT: Part of this wall

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1 has already been broken down, the

2 thickness of the wall. If anyone goes

3 out there and takes a picture they can

4 see that. And wherever he got that

5 picture from, Your Honor, I don't believe

6 it's one that was taken yesterday.

7 As far as me speaking to the

8 inspector yesterday, that's another lie.

9 I did not speak to him yesterday. I did

10 not see him yesterday. The first time I

11 saw that inspector was this morning. I

12 tried to call him 18 times yesterday. He

13 came out to the house. He spoke to my

14 wife. Then he went out in back and his

15 words this morning, he checked the back

16 wall, which doesn't belong to me. I

17 don't even know why he was looking at

18 that. It belong to the cemetery. But I

19 did not talk to that young man yesterday.

20 My first contact with him was today. And

21 you were there, sir, when I talked to

22 him.

23 MR. MINIHAN: The notes of the case

24 speak for themselves.

25 THE DEFENDANT: Can I finish

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1 please?

2 And, Your Honor, as far as putting

3 up a wall, this wall is coming down. We

4 will grade it out. Right now I'm in a

5 financial crunch. I have four liens on

6 the property. I'm trying to pay off some

7 bills. I told them it'll probably be

8 late June or the beginning of July it

9 will be taken down. I spoke to the

10 gentleman over there sitting down. I

11 told him the same thing. Two weeks ago I

12 believe I came into the office and I

13 talked to them. We sat down. They

14 showed me the plans that had to be drawn

15 up. I told them the name of the

16 contractor, the man that I talked to. I

17 talked to Demetrius Ball. He said

18 Demetrius Ball does most of the

19 demolition in the city. He's a reliable

20 person. So that's where I stand right

21 now. They came out. The top part of

22 that wall has been taken care of. It's

23 knocked down now. You can go see it.

24 It's not anything you can knock down with

25 a hammer. It has to be knocked down with

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1 a small Bobcat and he messed up one of

2 the blades when he did it.

3 THE COURT: Well, you need a

4 permit, sir, to do this.

5 THE DEFENDANT: Well, he may have

6 taken it on his own as far as permits --

7 THE COURT: You're not playing ball

8 with us. You haven't done a thing since

9 you left here.

10 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir, I have.

11 THE COURT: What?

12 THE DEFENDANT: I've met with three

13 people. I've met with the gentleman

14 right there.

15 THE COURT: That was yesterday. I

16 don't want to interrupt you.

17 THE DEFENDANT: That was yesterday.

18 THE COURT: I gave you five minutes

19 to talk.

20 THE DEFENDANT: This was two weeks

21 ago when I met with him, the gentleman

22 right there with the badge on. I went

23 down to the office. We sat down. I

24 talked to two more individuals down

25 there.
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1 MR. FORMAN: Judge, Mike is here.

2 THE DEFENDANT: He can verify that.

3 THE COURT: Okay. Let's here from

4 him.

5 BUILDING INSPECTOR: Yes, Your

6 Honor. I did meet with Mr. Mingo and the

7 Assistant City Manager approximately two

8 weeks ago in her office. Art Dahlberg,

9 the director of the department, said that

10 he could give him an expedited permit,

11 that he would let him walk it through and

12 get the permit. We gave him all the

13 application forms and everything and

14 encouraged him to go straight from the

15 City Manager's office over to the permit

16 desk and get that permit. He failed to

17 do it.

18 THE DEFENDANT: I did go over

19 there.

20 BUILDING INSPECTOR: Did you get

21 the permit?

22 THE DEFENDANT: I didn't have the

23 money. I still don't have the money.

24 THE COURT: Do you live at this

25 property?
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1 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, I do, sir.

2 I've been there for 30 years.

3 THE COURT: How much is the permit?

4 Any idea?

5 THE DEFENDANT: $300.

6 BUILDING INSPECTOR: It's based on

7 the cost of the work. Without having a

8 permit to know how much work he's doing,

9 we don't know how much the cost would be.

10 MR. FORMAN: Is it a big job,

11 medium or small?

12 BUILDING INSPECTOR: Medium.

13 MR. FORMAN: Medium size.

14 THE COURT: What are we going to

15 do, Mr. Mingo? I mean, you know.

16 THE DEFENDANT: When I get $200,

17 pick up a permit.

18 THE COURT: Well, I mean, how long

19 have you guys been -- how long has this

20 been going on? I know this was filed in

21 September.

22 THE DEFENDANT: Well, Your Honor,

23 I've only been involved with it since

24 this year.

25 THE COURT: How's that?

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1 MR. FORMAN: Judge, it was October

2 3. We had a conversation in the hallway

3 of last year. We went round and round

4 and round, and it was ridiculous. I

5 understand he's got financial problems,

6 but I don't see a plan at all. And we

7 wish him all the best. I just want him

8 to come up with a plan.

9 THE DEFENDANT: I think I showed

10 that gentleman there some drawings that

11 were made down at the office.

12 MR. MINIHAN: He showed me a line

13 drawing that he made on a piece of paper.

14 It's not adequate. He can't get a permit

15 on that.

16 THE DEFENDANT: I wasn't the one

17 who made the drawing.

18 MR. MINIHAN: I understand. That's

19 why it wouldn't work.

20 THE COURT: Mr. Mingo, do you

21 understand what's going on here?

22 MR. FORMAN: This goes back to 2014

23 to go back to your earlier question,

24 Judge. I'm not trying to beat up

25 Mr. Mingo, but I am keeping it real here.

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1 THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor, 2014,

2 2015, they were sending notices to the

3 house under another name.

4 MR. FORMAN: It's his name.

5 THE DEFENDANT: It was not my name.

6 MR. FORMAN: First, middle, last.

7 THE DEFENDANT: Sir, my last name

8 was never mentioned. If I walk down the

9 street and somebody says William, I keep

10 going. If they say Mingo, I stop.

11 Nothing came to the house with my last

12 name on it. Period.

13 THE COURT: Okay. Mr. Mingo, if

14 you want to get that technical with me,

15 I'll get that technical with you, okay.

16 I'll play the same way you play. Any

17 person with reason and common sense that

18 has a notice that to comes to your house

19 with your name transposed and everything

20 else is correct can make the assumption

21 logically that that was for you, okay.

22 And then you want to say, Oh, they had it

23 transposed. That doesn't count as me.

24 Well, I'll do the same thing. You're not

25 compliant. I'll stick you in jail for

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1 180 days. Is that how we're going to

2 play, because I can play the same way

3 you're playing. Are you following what

4 I'm saying?

5 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir, I'm

6 following what you're saying.

7 THE COURT: Okay. Do we want to go

8 that route or do you want to comply? I

9 don't care. But I'm not going to mess

10 around with you anymore. This is May of

11 '17. Three years later. And you're just

12 talking your way out of stuff. You say

13 stuff and you just keep talking and

14 talking and talking in circles. Did you

15 get the permit? It's not a yes or no. I

16 called this person, blah, blah, blah,

17 blah, blah, blah, blah. Okay. I deal in

18 getting things done, not running all

19 around. Are you going to fix this wall

20 or not, yes or no? I don't want to hear

21 anything --

22 THE DEFENDANT: Yes.

23 THE COURT: Okay. Here's the deal.

24 You're going to be on EMU for 100 days.

25 You're coming back here June 13th. If

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1 it's fixed, or if you have a permit to

2 fix it and a contract, I'll let you off

3 EMU. Other than that, you're not.

4 THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor --

5 THE COURT: You've got to report

6 over to 800 Broadway and get put on EMU

7 right now.

8 THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor --

9 THE COURT: June 13th. It's that

10 or 180 days in jail.

11 THE DEFENDANT: -- I'll lose my

12 job.

13 THE COURT: You can go to work on

14 EMU. You just can't leave the house.

15 THE DEFENDANT: Your Honor, my job

16 -- I'm on call 24/7, 7 days a week.

17 THE COURT: Doing what?

18 THE DEFENDANT: I'm the chaplain --

19 I'm the homicide chaplain for the City of

20 Cincinnati. I respond to every shooting,

21 every homicide in Cincinnati. I have 18

22 clients.

23 THE COURT: Well, talk to EMU and

24 you'll have to maybe carry a schedule or

25 something. I don't know. Work it out

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1 with them. That's the deal. Get it

2 fixed and you and I -- I'll be out of

3 your life forever.

4 THE DEFENDANT: How can I do this

5 if I'm on EMU? I can't even go out --

6 THE COURT: Okay. Well, that's

7 kind of like saying if you lock somebody

8 up for child support, they can't pay

9 child support. Well, the problem is

10 you're not doing it in the first place.

11 Do you follow what I'm saying?

12 THE DEFENDANT: No, sir, I don't.

13 THE COURT: I know you don't. You

14 know what, commit 90. Just forget it.

15 Just do 90 days and be done with this.

16 THE DEFENDANT: Sir, I've got --

17 THE COURT: No, it's over. You get

18 somebody to fix the wall, I'll let you

19 out.

20 THE DEFENDANT: I said I'd fix the

21 wall, but right now, sir, 90 days --

22 THE COURT: No. I can tell by the

23 look on your face that you don't want to.

24 You're not cooperating. You're not

25 cooperating.
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1 THE DEFENDANT: It will kill

2 everything. I've got court appearances I

3 have to be at, Your Honor. I have two

4 funerals I have to attend.

5 THE COURT: Okay.

6 (Other cases heard.)

7 - - -

8 THE COURT: Okay. The Court on

9 it's own motion is going to call Peterson

10 Mingo.

11 Does the city have a motion or

12 anything they want to say on this

13 sentencing?

14 MR. NESTOR: Your Honor, Terry

15 Nestor on behalf of the city. First,

16 we'd like to thank Your Honor for the

17 courtesy of hearing the city on this.

18 Second, we'd like to stress that it is

19 not in the interest of the city that this

20 individual be incarcerated or that he

21 have the consequence of incarceration for

22 these violations. We offered a variety

23 of civil remedies and we are willing to

24 work with Mr. Mingo to reach a civil

25 conclusion and we'd like to offer Mr.

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1 Mingo the opportunity to meet with us at

2 City Hall so he can remedy the situation

3 with his retaining wall.

4 And on our motion and your

5 agreement, we'd like to have him released

6 from jail today so he can take the

7 necessary steps to remedy his property.

8 We understand you'll have him back in

9 this court in the near future for

10 sentencing. We're hoping that he will

11 resolve this prior to that time.

12 THE COURT: Mr. Mingo, are you

13 going to go over to City Hall and see how

14 they can help you out?

15 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.

16 THE COURT: Hmm?

17 THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.

18 THE COURT: I mean, I'm taking this

19 seriously. Are you going to take this

20 seriously?

21 THE DEFENDANT: I am taking it

22 seriously, Your Honor.

23 THE COURT: No, you're not, okay.

24 Three years of doing nothing is not

25 taking it seriously. Do you follow what

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1 I'm saying? What are you going to do if

2 released from here? Where are you going

3 to go?

4 THE DEFENDANT: Over to City Hall

5 and talk to whoever I need to talk to.

6 Your Honor, can I explain one thing?

7 THE COURT: Um-um. Mr. Mingo, I'm

8 going to release you from custody. Come

9 back for report and sentencing June 6th,

10 here at 9:00 a.m. There's got to be a

11 permit to take down that wall, a contract

12 signed to take down that wall, or some

13 other agreement, okay. You follow what

14 I'm saying?

15 THE DEFENDANT: Yes I do.

16 THE COURT: All right. I'll

17 release you from custody. Come back for

18 sentencing and report June 6th, this room

19 at 9:00 a.m. We'll see you then.

20 MR. NESTOR: Thank you, Your Honor.

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1 CERTIFICATE

3 I, Sue Herberger, the undersigned, an

4 Official Court Reporter for the Hamilton County

5 Municipal Court, do hereby certify that at the

6 same time and place stated herein I recorded in

7 stenotype and thereafter transcribed the within

8 sixteen (16) pages, and that the foregoing

9 transcript of proceedings is a true, complete,

10 and accurate transcript of my said stenotype

11 notes.

12 IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereunto set my

13 hand this May day of 9th, 2017.

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16
Sue Herberger
17 Official Court Reporter
Hamilton County Municipal Court
18 Hamilton County, Ohio

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