Settling The Score: Two Judges Scuffle Over Newspaper Story

COLUMBUS, Ohio - The scales of justice weren't exactly balanced in the Ohio Supreme Court earlier this week when Justice Craig Wright wrestled Justice Andy Douglas to the floor, witnesses said.

Wright weighs approximately 260 pounds and is about 6 feet 5 inches tall. Douglas weighs about 160 pounds and is about 5 feet 9 inches tall.

The scuffle occurred Tuesday when Wright grabbed Douglas by the throat and pinned him in a choke hold.

Two law clerks had to pull Wright off Douglas, witnesses confirmed yesterday.

The attack happened in front of Justice Alice Robie Resnick, who was sitting in her outer office at a secretary's desk.

Douglas, Resnick and Wright declined comment.

The attack was reportedly provoked by a Sunday story in the Akron Beacon Journal, Wright's accusations that Douglas was the source of the story and Douglas' response that Wright was a liar.

The newspaper reported Sunday that Cleveland divorce lawyer James Wilsman sold four Super Bowl tickets to Wright in January and vacationed with him at golf resorts just months before Wright wrote a majority opinion clearing Wilsman of a conflict of interest in a divorce case.

Wright angrily told other court officials that Douglas and Douglas' secretary, Sue Pohlman, tapped into his office computer and leaked information to the newspaper about Wright's golf-tee times with Wilsman.

Douglas and Pohlman were not sources for any Beacon Journal story about Wright's ties to Wilsman, a newspaper spokesman said.

Witnesses to the scuffle, who requested anonymity, gave this account:

Douglas and Pohlman were talking with Resnick while Resnick was seated in her secretary's chair in her outer office when Wright came in.

Douglas asked Wright about his allegations that Douglas and Pohlman had leaked information.

Wright denied that he had accused either of them, and Douglas called him a ". . . liar."

Wright grabbed Douglas by his shirt collar, ripping it, and knocked Douglas against Resnick's desk and then to the floor.

Douglas' back struck the desk on the way down. Wright then pinned Douglas to the floor in a choke hold.

Resnick's law clerks - Mark Mahoney and Tony Schroeder - pulled Wright off Douglas, who did not fight back.

Columbus City Prosecutor Ronald O'Brien has contacted the Ohio Highway Patrol, but there was no formal investigation under way, said Maj. Warren Davies, head of investigations for the patrol.

The patrol would have jurisdiction, because the incident occurred on state property.