Kimball Perry

kperry@enquirer.com

Judge Theodore "Ted" Berry Jr. cursed at a Hamilton County sheriff's deputy this week in the first of two incidents in which Berry was trying to bypass security at the Hamilton County Courthouse without showing his ID card.

"The unknown person stated, 'I don't have to show you my f------ ID. I'm Judge Berry,' " Deputy Stephen Wells wrote in a Monday report.

Wednesday telephone messages were left at Berry's cellphone and his courtroom phone. A call from Berry's phone was returned to The Enquirer, but, when the reporter identified himself, the caller hung up. Berry called in sick Wednesday.

Wells was transferred from the Hamilton County Justice Center to the Courthouse three weeks before Berry tried to enter Monday. Wells was at the information booth where those with sheriff-issued identification cards show them and can bypass metal detectors – that those without ID cards must use – to enter the rest of the building.

Wells, who didn't know Berry, stopped the judge and asked to see his ID card. Berry loudly cursed and berated the deputy in front of a citizen Wells was helping.

After twice calling deputies "mother ------s," Berry went to his courtroom. Wells reported the incident to his bosses.

A similar incident happened Tuesday. Berry came into the building wearing a coat with a hood. Wells said in his report that Berry had the hood over his head, covering his face. The deputy stopped Berry again. Berry pushed his hood off of his head and screamed at the deputy again, saying he was being harassed.

Berry, the son of Theodore Berry, Cincinnati's first black mayor, went to his courtroom and called the sheriff's office. Three administrators and Wells went to Berry's office, where they said Berry focused on berating the deputy, questioning his intelligence and asking if he was "stupid," "slow" and "retarded."

The judge said he was being singled out, that only the black judges were being asked for IDs, and he accused deputies of "profiling" black judges.

"Deputies certainly ask other judges (they don't know) for ID," Sheriff's Maj. Charmaine McGuffey told The Enquirer.

Sheriff Jim Neil, whose office is in charge of courthouse security, issued a Wednesday memo to court administrators noting that all those attempting to bypass metal detectors must present sheriff-issued ID cards. "We ask that everyone who is entering the court house consider that the sheriff's deputies are tasked by me, Sheriff Jim Neil, to resolve any doubt of identity," it read.

Berry, first elected a municipal court judge in 2005 and re-elected to a new six-year term in 2013, has a reputation for having a temper. In April, his then-wife sought a restraining order to keep him away from her after she said he threatened to punch and "destroy" her in the midst of a pending divorce.

Berry also has had incidents with his language. In 2007, Berry was on the bench when a defendant told him "f--- you" and Berry responded with the same phrase to the defendant. Berry soon apologized for his language, saying at the time, "No matter how offensive another's comments are, as a trial judge I must maintain the decorum appropriate to a courtroom.... I intend to do so in the future."

This is the second time in four months a judge that has been stopped by a new deputy and asked to show ID has then confronted the deputy and alleged racism.

In July, municipal court Judge William Mallory Jr. was irked when a deputy new to the courthouse stopped him and asked to see his ID. Mallory, who said he didn't have an ID as required by the sheriff's office to bypass the metal detectors, told The Enquirer at the time he "thought maybe I was stopped based of my race, no question about it." He later said he was wrong.

Mallory is the brother of former Cincinnati Mayor Mark Mallory and fellow municipal court Judge Dwane Mallory.