Attorneys for Lakota board members Adi and Boddy file new motions as fight continues
Nov. 14—Lakota Local Schools board members Darbi Boddy and Isaac Adi are still fighting despite a civil stalking protection order, which he claims she violated at a convention in Columbus and wants sanctions imposed.
Adi's attorney filed a motion in the Butler County Common Pleas Court Tuesday asking Judge Greg Howard to "impose a term of incarceration, financial sanctions and award of reasonable attorney fees" because Boddy allegedly violated the terms of the civil protection order at a conference both are or were attending in Columbus. His attorney Ron Lyons said she came too close to Adi.
Under the standard order, Boddy cannot come within 500 feet — the equivalent of 15 school buses lined up end-to-end — of Adi or into any building or place she "knows or should know the protected persons are likely to be, even with a protected person's permission." She is not allowed to tamper with any of his possessions, contact him in any way or encourage anyone else to harass him.
Boddy's attorney Rob Croskery filed his own motion Tuesday morning, asking Howard to terminate the protective order and said he received the contempt motion yesterday. He basically said Adi forced the interaction which is "inconsistent with his supposed fear of her."
"Ms. Boddy has not been in the same sessions as Mr. Adi, but at one point he sought her out and followed her, forcing her to immediately vacate a public area under terms of the order (which she did) and then having his attorney send Respondent's attorney a motion for contempt," Croskery wrote. "This improper scenario will undoubtedly continue to play out in the future until the problems with the Magistrate's decision, which Respondent has continually and timely raised since the decision, are addressed on the merits."
Adi filed for the order against Boddy in September, alleging on several occasions she harassed him and caused him such mental distress he had to be hospitalized. The decision penned by Magistrate Matthew Reed and approved by Howard said because Adi didn't side with her on certain issues, Boddy "took every opportunity to exert pressure, bully, and, at times, punish petitioner by embarrassing him in front of others."
A good deal of the order dealt with a Florida conference both attended in April but there have been incidents between the two here too.
Croskery appealed the order to the 12th District Court of Appeals Sept. 21 asking that court for a partial stay of the order — that is in effect until September 2025 — so she could continue to attend school board meetings. The court denied the motion saying Boddy needed to ask the trial court first.
The 12th District dismissed the case entirely on Monday.
"Boddy failed to timely to object to the magistrate's report before filing her notice of appeal," the three-judge panel wrote. "Accordingly, she cannot challenge the trial court's order on appeal and this case is hereby dismissed."
Croskery said all this means is the ball is back in Howard's court, it doesn't impact Boddy's ability to attend board meetings.
"There is a modified civil protective order in effect, the 12th District didn't take a position on that one way or the other," Croskery said. "The modified protective order allows her to attend school board meetings. The appeal was of the fact the magistrate granted the order when he didn't have jurisdiction because the events he was talking about occurred in Florida."
Howard granted Boddy's emergency motion Sept. 28 to partially suspend the order she stay 500 feet away from Adi, with conditions.
He wrote that when Boddy attends meetings she must "not communicate with the petitioner unless necessary during school board meeting business," and she has to wait until five minutes after Adi leaves before she can go.
Croskery filed a motion to vacate the protection order previously but it was stricken from the record because the case was pending in the 12th District. He has renewed his motion in large part saying the court here had no jurisdiction over much of the case because the actions took place in Florida.
He also claims she has been exercising her right to free speech.
"The Magistrate's finding that Ms. Boddy's efforts were made for a political purpose (to change beliefs through embarrassment of Mr. Adi) is not without precedent on a national scene," Croskery wrote. "The misuse of judicial resources to quash political dissension is a very, very dangerous possibility here, and a grave danger to the public interest."
Lyons could not be reached for comment. He hasn't responded to Croskery's arguments to erase the protective order because it was stricken from the proceedings — at his request.
