Story Archive

Officer of the Court

After a car crash in Elyria, Ohio, Heather Wilsey, 27, told police she had been at a bar with a friend, and accepted an offer from “a black man” to drive them home in her car. That man crashed, she says, and ran away before police arrived. The friend, Kenneth Lewis, 42, corroborated her story. Police went to the bar where it all started, and found they had a security camera covering the parking lot: it showed Wilsey and Lewis drove away alone, with Wilsey at the wheel. Faced with that evidence, Wilsey pleaded no contest to obstructing official business, and failure to maintain physical control — the latter reduced from driving under the influence as part of a plea bargain. She was sentenced to 90 days in jail (with 80 days suspended), a $1,500 fine (with $250 suspended), and three years of probation, during which time she cannot drink alcohol. “I would just like to apologize,” Wilsey told the court. “First to the Elyria Police Department, also to the city of Elyria and its citizens, and the legal community.” Why the latter? Wilsey is an attorney — and so is Lewis, who was also charged with obstructing official business and was sentenced to 10 days in jail. Both are also facing ethics charges by the Lorain County Bar Association, accusing them of dishonesty, racial discrimination, and misconduct that adversely affects their ability to practice law. (RC/Elyria Chronicle-Telegram) ...Notice that “dishonesty” doesn’t “adversely affect their ability to practice law.”