Above article written by Austin Leedom, Monday, June 04, 2007  Disc # 07=16

The Donini File - Page One

LADY LUCK AND THE SHERIFF

Following a boisterous and often lawless life as a young man in the East End of Portsmouth, Marty Donini decided to change sides and become a city police officer. To be a cop was an honorable profession and one where a fellow could carry a club and a pistol and be closely associated with other men who carried clubs and guns. The right to carry arms and be with other armed men was especially attractive to him as he was accustomed to traveling with a large group of reckless men when he roamed around the streets. He was outgoing; he liked company, even if it were bad company. Also, he had more courage when he had a gang with him; he felt safer with others of his kind around him. Also, Marty had an eye for the ladies; he knew that many women favor a man in a police uniform.

So a change to being on other side of the law looked good to the young man and the pay would be better than his job of flipping hamburgers at McDonalds on Gallia Street.

He made application to join the force. But, sadly, his dream of proudly wearing the attractive blue uniform of the Portsmouth Police Department was never to be. He was refused employment by the police chief who checked his record and said, "I can't hire you, Marty, you are a thief." His police criminal record had done him in. This didn't stop Marty.

Marty is a devious man who does give up easily. He then made application with the Huntington, WV Police Department thinking, perhaps, that in a faraway city, (fifty miles away) the police would never learn of his outlaw past in Portsmouth. Marty's quest for the glory and glamour of police work was stymied again. The Huntington Police also found his record; there would be no police job for Marty in Huntington.

But Marty's bad luck was going to change for the better. He knew that someone, sometime, somewhere would put him to work without a background investigation. Marty made a good appearance when he cleaned up; he knew how to speak properly when in proper company. He should be able to get a job in law enforcement if he kept asking.

Marty's good fortune came in the person of John Knauff and Marty Donini has been ever grateful for the opportunity John provided.

John had been with the Ohio Highway Patrol for ten years when he was persuaded by the Republican Party to return to Scioto County and run for Sheriff, which he did in November 1968.

The Democratic Party had turmoil in the Sheriff's race that year with several candidates, all working against other candidates. John Knauff was well liked, came from a good family, had a good reputation and had ten years experience with a high profile law enforcement agency.

Mr. Knauff won the race with ease. As Sheriff, John was respected for his courage in the field and his easy way of talking with anyone who wanted to speak with him. He helped people any way he could; he was considerate of the prisoners in the jail and made improvements in the jail facilities; he was able to obtain more deputies by using available funding from the federal and state government. The Sheriff's Office had been woefully understaffed like most of the other counties in the State; John Knauff slowly increased the number of officers and the citizens received better service than they had ever known.

However, John Knauff had one weakness. He was an honest man and considered all other men honest until they proved they were not. He accepted people without question. When Marty Donini applied for a job as a deputy John Knauff hired him without doing a background check. Marty's hope of wearing a uniform and legally carrying a weapon was realized. At long last, he was working for the other side.

In 1984 Sheriff John Knauff was persuaded to run for the Office of County Commissioner. In the fall of 1984 he resigned from the Sheriff's Office and Chief Deputy John Hull was appointed Sheriff by the Republican party. John Knauff became a County Commissioner until he retired in 2003.

Hull served two terms; the Sheriff's Office became a disaster area. Hull was arrogant, incompetent, provided poor service to the citizens, promoted the wrong people and used the Furtherance of Justice Funding for his personal spending. He also was caught engaging in questionable purchasing practices. The Portsmouth Daily Times reported the outrageous, corrupt conduct of Sheriff Hull. It was well known that Hull had stolen from the Furtherance of Justice Funds and it was suspected that he had personally profited from illegal cruiser purchases.

By this time Marty Donini had risen to the rank of Lieutenant and was very close with Sheriff John Hull. Donini was one of the top three deputies in the Sheriff's Office.

In the Sheriff's race for election in 1992 John Hull faced a relatively unknown veteran Portsmouth Police officer who had also worked at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility for many years as a supervisor.

Few men knew the man who was running against Sheriff Hull, but more than one person was heard to say words to the effect of, "I don't know that fellow Jim Sutterfield who is running against John Hull but I do know John Hull and I'm voting for Sutterfield."

It was a big, and easy victory for Jim Sutterfield who surprised the citizens of the county with the most efficient and capable administration of the Sheriff's Office they had ever known. Of course, after eight years of the arrogant incompetence of John Hull and his top three deputies, anyone would have been an improvement.

Like the old Sheriff John Knauff, Jim Sutterfield was easy to get along with, the citizen's calls and complaints were once again handled properly and promptly. Sheriff Sutterfield, with the aid of the Commissioners made many needed physical changes at the jail, installed 911 program, a K-9 unit, an honor guard and an emergency response team. Morale was high, crimes were solved, and public records were available to anyone. Sutterfield faithfully performed his duty in an outstanding and laudable manner; the deputies had pride in their jobs and were exceptional in performance and appearance.

Everyone was not happy, though. Jim Sutterfield, like John Knauff was known for his honesty. However, he was not as trusting of everyone as John Knauff had been.

After the election in November 1992 and before he took office on the first Monday of 1993 Sheriff Sutterfield had learned that there was a tremendous amount of money, guns, jewelry, drugs, tools and other valuables missing from the secured evidence room in the Sheriff's Office.

His first move as Sheriff was to welcome an auditor from the Ohio State Auditor's Office that he had requested weeks before he took office. This auditor was there in the morning of the first day of Sheriff Sutterfield's administration.

The lone auditor made a preliminary survey of the evidence storage area and quickly called to the State Auditor's Office for assistance. The evidence storage area was secured. No one but the Auditor's had access to the area until the audit was completed over a month later.

This audit covered the years of the John Hull administration, from 1985 to 1993. The audit was completed, reviewed and presented to Scioto County Prosecuting Attorney Lynn Alan Grimshaw and Sheriff Jim Sutterfield on February 10, 1993.

According the State Auditor's Official Report, cash, drugs, marijuana, weapons, tools, beer, clothing, and other items that had been seized or confiscated in 170 criminal cases were missing and could not be accounted for by the auditors. Forty legal size pages were needed to list the missing items.

Over fifty pistols, rifles, and shotguns were listed as missing.

On one page alone, over $85,000 of confiscated cash was listed by the state auditors as missing. It was gone; it should have been there.

Ex-Sheriff John Hull had lost the election; he was gone and his top deputies were swiftly removed by the new Sheriff.

Neither former Sheriff John Hull nor any of his top three deputies were prosecuted. County Prosecuting Attorney Lynn Grimshaw is said to have decided that it would be too difficult to prove who stole the missing money, guns and drugs. There were only four men who had a key to area where he confiscated property was locked up. Whodunnit?

Lady Luck was still riding on Marty Donini's shoulder, and he was destined to get even luckier yet.

Ex-Sheriff John Hull and Lieutenant Marty Donini both obtained commissions from Pike County Sheriff Larry Travis, but neither worked long in Pike County.

John Hull got a job selling cars for Glockner Chevrolet.

Lady Luck was still faithfully riding on Marty Donini's shoulder and smiling with him; he got a job working as an investigator in the City Prosecutor's Office.

This City Prosecutor's Office was the place Marty Donini needed to be; his criminal court records were recorded in the Office of the Municipal Court Clerk and Marty Donini now had easy access to the record books. It was a golden opportunity to eliminate any and all of his court records, and he did that by expungements. They weren't done properly of course, but the records were gone. No one would ever know what he had done. It was a perfect crime. How could anyone ever find out that he even had expunged his records? He was safe now to run for Sheriff.

Marty Donini, at this time, was no longer a wild 18-year-old young man getting busted for impulsive stealing and disorderly conduct.

Marty Donini was now a seasoned 38-year-old former Sheriff's Lieutenant and a trusted officer for the Portsmouth City Prosecutor; the actions he had performed were not spur-of-the-moment impulses but premeditated tampering and destruction of court records. He fully knew, or should have known, that his actions were felony crimes.

As happens with many violators, the cover-up of a criminal action is often a far more serious crime than the transgressions they attempt to conceal.

At this time Lady Luck was still with Marty Donini, but she would eventually be unfaithful to him, leaving him heart-broken and in serious trouble.