YOUNGSTOWN — The attorney for Struthers Municipal Judge Dominic Leone III calls the request of Struthers Mayor Catherine Cercone Miller to extend past May 18 the date for a full civil stalking protection order hearing against Leone “preposterous on its face.”

Attorney Peter Pattakos of the Akron area filed a response Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to the request Monday by Miller’s attorney, Lynn Maro, for more time to allow Maro to depose (interview under oath) Leone and possibly one or two other people. Visiting Judge H.F. Inderlied Jr. is hearing the matter.

Pattakos’ filing states that Ohio law allows 10 days between the time Miller was granted an ex-parte (without the presence of the other side and temporary) protection order against Leone and the time of a full protection order hearing, where both parties can call witnesses and testify.

Both sides are permitted only a “short period” of time to research the facts of the case because a civil stalking protection order is intended “primarily to protect victims from imminent threats of physical harm and mental distress,” the Leone filing states.

Another purpose of the civil stalking law is to “protect (the accused), including by allowing them a fair opportunity to probe false and damaging ex parte accusations made against them to brand them as stalkers,” the Leone filing adds.

Maro argued that the additional time to depose people is warranted because it will “assist in keeping unnecessary, extraneous questions and issues from being brought up during the hearing and will help assess what has led to the current tension.”

But Pattakos stated that if Miller and her attorney are “not in possession of the proof (Miller) needs to withstand adversarial scrutiny of her request that this court brand (Leone) a stalker and restrict his freedoms, that only goes to show the meritlessness of (Miller’s) application.”

The ex parte protection order approved by Mahoning County Common Pleas Magistrate Dennis Sarisky requires Leone to stay at least 500 feet from Miller and two family members, bans him from possessing deadly weapons and requires him to turn over any deadly weapons he possesses to law enforcement.

The statements Miller made when she obtained the ex parte protection order included allegations that Leone is “mentally unstable, and is getting more erratic,” “obsessed” with Miller and that Miller is afraid for her safety and the safety of others at Struthers City Hall, Pattakos noted in his filing.

“Having already dragged (Leone) through the mud, and with the (May 18) hearing already set to take place four days past the statutorily mandated deadline, (Miller) now claims that she needs more (time) to prove her accusations against him,” Pattakos said.

Miller did not meet any of the requirements for the hearing to be postponed, Pattakos stated. Miller and Maro can question Leone at the full hearing, “which (Leone) submits will reveal the utterly meritless nature of (Miller’s) claims,” the filing concludes.

Miller’s initial filing stated that Leone’s harassment of her has been ongoing since about the end of January. She alleges that Leone told his staff to wear T-shirts reading, “f– the mayor.”

Leone is permitted inside the Struthers City Hall and Struthers Municipal Court building only to access his office, the courtroom and the hallway to and from the parking lot. The terms of the order will be effective until Nov. 4 unless the order is extended.