Gmoser and Kinsley’s attorney have filed a joint motion to dismiss the action now that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost’s office is taking over the prosecution. Presiding Hamilton County Common Pleas Court Judge Charles Kubicki signed an order Monday transferring the case to Yost. The joint dismissal motion was filed in the high court Tuesday. Gmoser also removed his request for sanctions against Kinsley for filing the suit, which the court must still approve.
Gmoser said he will reserve any comments until “the attorney general has finished with his work.”
Kinsley’s attorney Jennifer Branch, said they dismissed the case because it is now moot, and she says the sanction request by Gmoser was “unfounded.”
“Jennifer Kinsley filed the complaint in the Supreme Court to ensure an appropriate special prosecutor was appointed. Ms. Kinsley is satisfied with yesterday’s appointment of the Ohio Attorney General as the special prosecutor in place of both the Hamilton County and Butler County prosecutors,” she said.
“Sexual assault victims should not have to resort to filing litigation to enforce their rights because the Ohio Constitution guarantees their right to be heard before a plea or sentencing.”
The rape case at the center of the dispute between Kinsley and Gmoser moved from Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters on Kubicki’s order May 21. He appointed Assistant Butler County Prosecutor Brad Burress to handle the Aaron Roco case in which Kinsley is the alleged victim because “a conflict of interest does now exist making it inappropriate for the Office of the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney to continue in the prosecution.”
Gmoser asked the high court to dismiss the case Sept. 17, saying Kinsley has “used the complaint in this case to continue her efforts at forum shopping and her further efforts to undermine prosecutorial discretion in representation of the State of Ohio.”
Kinsley has accused Roco, a former client, of brutally raping her in 2012. She is unhappy with the plea that was negotiated by Burress, one she says is more lenient than an earlier plea deal. Roco would plead guilty to gross sexual imposition, a fourth degree felony, register as a Tier II sex offender, and be sentenced to community control with a condition that he complete the 6-month River City sex offender program.
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