Judge Douglas Rastatter of Springfield, OH; moron, repeat offender

The state of Ohio presented Douglas Martin Rastatter with a law license in 1994 after he graduated from the University of Cincinnati Law School.

It should be noted that this isn’t Doug’s 1^st bite at the Judicial Misfit Apple Tree. He was previously charged with a variety of misconduct in 2011. That matter can be found by visiting the URL at the end of this article.

In one matter, Doug was assigned to preside over the death of John Deselem wherein Toneisha Gunnell and three codefendants were tried and convicted of murder, aggravated robbery, involuntary manslaughter and theft in a jury trial. Those convictions were overturned by the Court of Appeals because of Doug’s moronic behavior involving the jury selection process.

When the retrial took place upon the reversal by the Court of Appeals, Doug decided to further prove that he’s a Certified Moron. In this instance, and after the state and defense counsel completed their closing arguments and the jury had retired to deliberate, the Moron granted the prosecution’s motion for a mistrial based on the fact that one of the jurors had used a home computer to conduct Internet research on two legal terms that the Moron did not define for the jurors. 

Subsequently, defendant Gunnell appealed the granting of a mistrial to the same appellate court that had reversed the Moron’s prior conduct. In this instance, the appellate court granted Gunnell’s appeal on the legal basis of “double jeopardy.” In its ruling, the Ohio Supreme Court stated in part:

• “There was no showing of a manifest necessity for the mistrial because the trial judge concluded, based on speculation, that the juror in question – Juror No. 6 – was prejudiced because she had conducted Internet research on legal terms that were important to the jury’s consideration of whether Gunnell was guilty. “
• “Had the judge [the Moron] actually inquired into the salient issue of prejudice with the juror, he may well have acted within his discretion.  But we cannot condone the notion that a judge acts rationally, reasonably, or deliberately in declaring a mistrial, on retrial, in a difficult criminal case without any meaningful inquiry into the issue of juror bias.”
• “It is neither lawful nor conscionable to predicate a mistrial on speculation alone.”
• “A mistrial upon the judge’s mere speculation of prejudice is not an act of ‘the greatest caution.’ It is a travesty. And that is exactly what is before us.”
• “The court of appeals was correct in holding that the mistrial was in error and that the Constitution demands reversal of these convictions.”

In addition, the Supreme Court ruled that the retrial of Gunnell and the Moron’s granting of a mistrial constituted “double jeopardy,” thereby precluding the state from retrying Gunnell. Put simply, thanks to the Moron, a convicted murderer did not have to answer for her criminal conduct.

And lastly, Doug doesn’t much give a damn how many times he engages in incompetent behavior because no judge in Ohio has ever been disciplined or tossed off the bench by the Ohio Supreme Court for being a Certified Moron. And clearly does not care how much it costs the taxpayers every time his asinine conduct causes a reversal by a higher court.

As we speak (ca. October 2018), the Moron continues to sit as a Clark County Common Pleas Court judge in Springfield, Ohio.

Judge Douglas Rastatter of Springfield, OH; liar, loser

https://tinyurl.com/ybjgjc59