CLEVELAND — News 5 has dug into Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley’s campaign contribution reports for answers as to why he may have recused himself from Bobby George’s case.
George, the owner of TownHall and the Barley House, was charged with one count of attempted murder, one count of rape, four counts of kidnapping, one count of felonious assault, and two counts of strangulation. All the charges are felonies.
A warrant for his arrest was issued on Aug. 9.
He turned himself in the following week.
George’s case fell in Prosecutor O’Malley’s domain.
During George's hearing, his attorney, Kevin Spellacy, asked for a $100,000 bond, saying his client had no prior felony history and had "great" ties to the community.
The prosecutor, working under O’Malley, agreed to a $100,000 bond.
Judge Sheila Turner McCall then asked the prosecutor, "With all of this probable cause, that's all you have to say?" The prosecutor responded, "Yes."
The judge then said she was not going to issue a $100,000 bond because the probable cause was "horrible." She then doubled the bond amount to $200,000.
“We saw a lot of outrage at first given that the prosecutor in the courtroom during that initial appearance asked for only a $100,000 bond. I would say if you looked through any other attempted murder case that you would see charged – a $100,000 bond would be highly unlikely to be found anywhere else. And this was an employee of the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's office that was making this request,” a former opponent of O’Malley’s in the 2024 Cuyahoga County Prosecutor race, Matthew Ahn said.
Since then, O’Malley has recused himself from George’s case.
Prosecutor O’Malley does not believe he has ever met Robert George.
However, to avoid any appearance of conflict, Prosecutor O’Malley decided last week to appoint a Special Prosecutor to lead the investigation and bring whatever criminal charges may be appropriate.
On August 21st, Jefferson County Prosecutor Jane Hanlin was appointed to handle this matter. Prosecutor Hanlin has been the Jefferson County Prosecutor for 13 years and an Assistant Jefferson County Prosecutor for seven years prior. She is also the past President of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorney’s Association.
The question many have asked is why the seemingly sudden recusal.
News 5 dug through dozens of pages of O’Malley’s campaign contribution reports stemming from 2016.
News 5 can confirm the George family has donated $19,949.50 over the course of eight years. Additionally, our partners at Signal Cleveland report Tony George, the father of Bobby, donated $20,000 to O’Malley’s reelection bid in the months leading up to this year’s Democratic primary.
Of that nearly $40,000 in contributions, Bobby George’s name is listed for a contribution of $1,305.64 under food and beverage.
The Barley House and the Summer House have been listed in campaign records for rental services and food and beverage.
George’s attorney, Kevin Spellacy, and his brother Leo are also named donors.
Spellacy and his brother have donated a total of $5,350 over the years.
News 5 asked Spellacy if the campaign contributions may have played a part in O’Malley’s recusal.
“Oh, I think it’s absolutely it. I believe in good government. I believe in good judges. I believe in good prosecutors, and I contribute like any citizen should. The George’s are the same way. We want a fair day in court and at the end of the day, if [O’Malley] thinks that our fair day in court will be interfered by the fact that someone gave him money, Amen,” Spellacy explained.
Ahn told News 5 that O’Malley’s recusal was the only sensible path this case could take.
“We want to make sure that people have faith in the legal system, and we can only have faith in the legal system if it doesn't look like there's some funny business going on,” he said. “The fact that it took this long and the conversations about that in of itself are a problem. But I do think this was the right decision moving forward regardless of the reasoning and regardless of the timing.”
Spellacy doesn’t argue with the transition in prosecution – saying he’ll take on anyone in court.
“I’m a trialer. I don’t need an advantage. I need fairness and I need good people,” he added. “I don’t care who the prosecutor is. Whoever it is – I’m ready to proceed with our case.”
Hanlin is now reviewing George’s case.
We’ll continue to follow through as this story develops.
