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Deters: Portune should mind his own business

56 views · Published 27 January 2015 · 1:20 · Indexed 22 September 2026

Channel: LOCAL 12 · 2015 · News & Politics

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HAMILTON COUNTY, Ohio (WKRC) -- Hamilton County's prosecutor spoke out about a story Local 12 News reported Wednesday, Jan. 22.
    
Joe Deters said County Commissioner Todd Portune needed to mind his own business. Portune said suspended juvenile court Judge Tracie Hunter should not be retried on eight felony counts.
    
Portune said the county cannot afford a second trial. He said the first trial cost around a half million dollars and a second trial will only divide the community further.
    
But Deters told Local 12 News the special prosecutors appointed by the courts have decided to retry Hunter, not his office.

Joe Deters said, "In my mind I think he's pandering to a demographic that is upset about this, specifically African-Americans in this community. I think this is what this is about. He's not a stupid individual. He knows he has no authority at all to tell the court of common pleas not to do this."

Portune told Local 12 News Thursday, Jan. 22, that he was not going to get into a war of words with Deters. He said he was looking at this objectively and was concerned about so much money coming out of the county's general fund for a second trial. Money, he said, could be better spent on other things.
    
Portune added he would take the position if a white, male Republican was in Tracie Hunter's position.


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