September 21, 2024 • 26 mins
Guest: Summit County Prosecutor candidate John Greven
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
FCB Faith is your rhythm and prey station. I listen,
my mom listens, pretty much the whole family.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I cannot, I cannot.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I canna.
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Said, don't, don't.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
And don't listen to f CB Faith on iHeartRadio, Odyssey
(00:59):
at faith dot com, or tell your smart speaker to
play FCB Faith on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
The following is a presentation of FCB Faith. This is
the Jeff Glory in Nick Show.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
Welcome to the Jefflori and Nick Show.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And we are excited because we are in an election
season this year, and right now we have an awesome
guest this morning, just one who's just really qualified.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
And I tell you he is a candidate.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
For a county prosecutor in the state of Ohio in
Summit County. Just it's He's gonna tell us a little
bit about his race and the area that he represents,
and I'll tell you it's a very very important race,
and I think that all of us need to know
what a county prosecutor does and just the importance of
(02:08):
the county prosecutor's role in our daily lives. Welcome to
our show, John Grevin, how are you today, sir?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I'm very well, thank you for having me.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Glad to have you here, John.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
This election season, there's so many different folks on the
ballot and so many different races and just issues we
need to know about the importance of your election, your race,
this county prosecutor's job. It seems as though once someone
is elected to that position, they hold it for quite
(02:44):
some time.
Speaker 6 (02:45):
So John, can you tell us a.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Little bit about yourself and give me just a little
bit of your background.
Speaker 6 (02:50):
Let our audience know just a little bit about you.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Sure, I'm originally from upstate New York. I moved I
have a back degree in mathematics, I have a master's
degree in education, and I have a law degree from
Cleveland Marshall College of Law. I first moved to Ohio
in nineteen ninety one, so I've been an Ohio resident
now for.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Thirty three years.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Moved to go to law school, became a resident of
Summit County in nineteen ninety four. After I was done
with law school. My first job out of law school
was actually as an assistant Summer County Prosecutor. I was
hired by Maureen O'Connor, who later on went to become
Lieutenant governor as well as chief Justice of the Ohio
(03:37):
Supreme Court. I worked under Maureen and then I worked
under her successor, Mike Callahan, who now was pretty much
my best friend. Worked in the Prosecutor's office for about
seven years. By the time I started off at the bottom,
you know, doing low level felonies. By the time I
(03:58):
had left the office, I was handing nothing but murder
cases and aggravated murder cases, and you know, they were
kind of my specialty. When the election of two thousand happened,
things changed and I was not welcome back in the office.
I actually went in practice medical malpractice defense for a
(04:18):
couple of years. But there's something really exciting about the
fast pace of criminal law. So in two thousand and two,
myself and three other former prosecutors formed a law firm Callahan, Grevin, Riley,
and sin Who.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Oh awesome.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Okay, Yeah, I'd like you to just elaborate a little
bit more about that, because I know that you even
called one of the four horsemen, and I've heard that
over and over that you're one of the four horsemen.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Tell us how did that come? How that term come
into being?
Speaker 4 (04:54):
In Yeah, like I said, we formed a law firm.
Mike Callahan, myself, Johnson, and Scott Riley, and we developed
the nickname of four Horsemen, And frankly that was created
by our clients. We didn't come up with that. All
of a sudden people started referring to us as that.
(05:14):
And you know the main reason for that is we
were all former Stomach County prosecutors.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And we.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
As defense attorneys defending our clients, making sure that our
clients received justice. We had an extreme amount of success,
and so word got out on the street and people
started calling us the four horsemen. And you know, part
of my reason for running is, like I said, I've
been fortunate as the defense attorney, I think delivered justice
(05:47):
to virtually all of my clients, whatever that may be
given the individual facts of a case. But it's one
thing to try to get justice for my clients, which
are maybe two or three hundred in a year, as
opposed to if I am the Summer County prosecutor, I
can try to get justice for every client that comes
(06:07):
through the criminal justice system.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
How do you feel as though you connect with the community,
I mean, being one of the four horsemen, Like, do
you feel as though that's really.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
Strengthened some of your connections with community folks.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I think it does. You know, like I said, I
represent two or three hundred people of a year, so
over the course of twenty years, you.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
Know, that's several thousand people who are you know, community
members are who are people inacron rich people, poor people,
white people, black people, men, women, you know, you name it.
And I represented them, and I think I've done a
good job to represent them. And I think because of that,
I think hopefully people when they hear my name, and
(06:58):
especially when they hear the part about the four horsemen,
they will know that my qualifications are legitimate and that
I am curious about this job and again could help
to deliver justice, whatever that may be, to a wider
range of the community.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
I think having that experience really means a lot in
the prosecutor's position, being able to, you know, have that
connection or to walk into that office already having that
connection with the community and folks knowing exactly how you've
been successful in court cases. I think that means a lot.
(07:40):
Let's talk about the office that you're running for.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
So excuse me just to follow up on what you
said there before we get to that. I think that
my time actually is a criminal defense attorney will actually
make me a better prosecutor. I think sometimes secuters the
only thing they know about a case or what they
read in the file, what they read as far as
(08:04):
the police reports are and everything. As a defense attorney,
I know that every case goes much deeper than that
that Every defendant is a person who has, you know,
the different struggles, and I think it would help me
to take a bigger picture of the people that we
are prosecuting. The sum County Prosecutor is actually, according to
(08:26):
a High Revice Code, the chief law enforcement officer of
Summit County. There are four divisions in the office. There's
a tax division, There's a Child Support Enforcement Agency division
we handle child support. There's a civil division. We represent
county office holders and things of that when they are
sued civilly. But the most important job, and the one
(08:47):
of that people are probably most familiar with, are we
prosecute all of the felony cases that happened in the
jurisdiction of some accounty.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Okay, I think that's really important for people to know
because you may not be when I say you, the
person listening to this show may not actually be one
be the one or at any time or may have
not been in the court system or justice system dealing
with attorneys and going before a judge. But sometimes and
(09:19):
many times, we know a family member that has or
someone who close, a friend or an associate that has
been in the court system, and I think it's so
important to have someone who is well rounded in that
prosecutor's office and that being as the county prosecutor, so
that they can oversee these cases that your prosecutors are
(09:44):
are working on. I think this is so important in
this day and age where you take into account so
many different factors in just knowing being on the other
side on both sides of the table in the courtroom,
as I think that just means a lot. That's that
means a lot to every individual or family that has
(10:07):
someone who's dealing in the justice system seeking justice or.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Day.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
I agree because again, I think it helps me to
look at the big picture of the individual as opposed
to just what's you know, the words on a police report.
And even if you don't have somebody involved in the
criminal justice system. Everybody wants to feel safe in their community.
People want to be able to go to the civic
theater in downtown Akron on a Friday night to see
(10:36):
a show without fear of being a victim of crime. So,
you know, my philosophy as a prosecutor would be to
focus our time and our resources on frenchly, the bad people,
the violent people, you know, the rapist, the murders, the assaulters,
the you know, the armed robbers, things like that, as
(10:56):
opposed to the lower level people, many who are addicted
to drugs or many of whom, frankly, just make a
stupid you know, young kids that make a stupid decision.
And so my philosophy would be focus on the bad guys.
Let's put the bad guys away because they are danger
to the community and for the people at the other
(11:19):
end of the spectrum, Let's try to see if we
can get those people help, because if we can get
them help at an early age or an early stage
of their criminal career, maybe we can stop that revolving
door where they don't screw up, go to prison, get out,
screw up, go to prison, get out. And if we
can kind of nip it in the bud, I think
(11:40):
everybody benefits.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Absolutely. We hear so much about the crime in the
city of Akron. You know, you know, it spills out
into other municipalities within Summit County and of course even
in other areas, other cities.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Job you.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I was going to ask you about public safety, but
you've got a tech touched on that quite a bit.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
But I would just say that you know, every woman,
every senior, every child, UH needs to every gentleman, every person,
every senior citizen needs to feel safe. And it's of
the utmost importance.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
It's imperative that you know that issue be addressed and
taken serious to get UH to make our safe, our
streets safe. That's that's the bottom line.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
I said, by far, the most important job of the
prosecutor is the criminal division and to provide the citizens
of Summer County was a safe environment.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
You know, I wasn't going to ask you this, but
what kind of why do you think it's out of control?
Speaker 5 (12:49):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
You know, we we hear on the news about crime
and various cities, and acron happens to be one of
them where it sometimes seems as though the crime is
out of control.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
Can you elaborate on that? Can you touch on it?
Speaker 5 (13:03):
Well?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I think it's a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
I think that it's there are certain things that the
that I could do is to prosecutor, but there are
other things that are a much deeper, so stytal problem.
Right what I could do is a prosecutor. I mean,
the main problem now is the availability of guns. So
many people have guns. And you know, in the old days,
(13:29):
if you and I had a disagreement, we might throw
punches at each other, and that's the way things are settled.
That's not what happens anymore. People pull out their guns.
They start shooting at each other, you know, And I
think a part of that, you know, I talked.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
About the greater societal things.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
There is a kind of a lack of opportunity for
a certain segment of the community. And you know, if
the opportunity isn't there for a job that pays you
a decent wage, well then maybe you fall back on
something that's a little bit.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
Easier exactly now.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
And that leads me to the question I was going
to ask you about just rehabilitating folks, especially our young people.
You know, we've always said a mind is a terrible
thing to waste, and you know, our young people are
our future.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
But I'll tell you.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Our young people are committed a lot of young people
are going the wrong way and they're committing crimes, and
they are not our future. They are very detrimental to
what's going on right now. You're seeing a lot of
We're seeing a lot of younger people, even ages eleven
and twelve, breaking in cars.
Speaker 5 (14:34):
Is there anything that.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
You or the prosecutor can do to make to rehabilitate
our young people.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Well, I think a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I think one part of the criminal division of the
Prosecutor's office is there's a you know, there's a juvenile
court in some accounty and there's a juvenile division of
the of the criminal branch of the prosecutor's office. I
think juvenile enforcement needs to be tough enough because it
is amazing to me the clients that I have that
(15:06):
are adults that have gone through the juvenile system and
really gotten slaps on the wrists with no accountability whatsoever,
and then all of a sudden they become nineteen and
they do something and they're shocked that you know, oh
my god, I'm looking at you know, eight years in prison?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 4 (15:22):
And I think that more needs to be done with
juvenile prosecutions. There needs to be more accountability for people
in the juvenile system.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
Without a doubt, more does need to be done with
our young people.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
I'm sure you have some ideas, and just having that
perspective means a lot, because you know, so many young
people are repeat offenders. There's got to be an effort
that works to stop these young people from going back
(15:59):
repeating the same, uh, you know, a different crime or
the same crime, and just that recidivism is just devastating
to the child and their their future and the future
and not just the future of our of our cities
and our communities, but to the very present time. You know,
(16:21):
a lot of sad things and crimes that happen. And again,
those who are least able to protect themselves young people, uh,
you know, innocent children, women and seniors.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
I'm not and even I'm not leaving out men.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
But you know, we've all become victims and we need,
we need to address this. We're gonna take a quick
break and we're gonna ask our audience just to stick
around with us.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
We'll be right back. We're back with our.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Guest, John Grevin, was a candidate for Summit County prosecutor. Wow,
we just we still have a lot to unpack, and
we've we were talking about rehabilitation efforts for for.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
People minor offenses.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Basically at this time, I am going to move on
to another question that I had in mind for you, John,
and that's about enhancing the relationships of the community of
the prosecutor's office with the community. How do we how
do we build a stronger relationship with the community. Oftentimes
(17:42):
there is a strain between law enforcement or.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
Or yeah, government and the community. What can you do
to just.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Strengthen or enhance the relationship there between the community and
the prosecutor's office.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
Well, well, one of the things that I've that I
would like to implement, and it kind of tags on
to what you were talking about during the break about
juvenile crime, is having times where prosecutors going to the
middle schools and talk to kids who are twelve and
thirteen years old, Because in talking to people, it's my experience,
(18:18):
if you're a thirteen year old kid, you may see
your neighbor being arrested. You may see him putting handcuffs
and let out to a police car and put in
the car, and you have no idea what happens after that.
And I think sometimes you know, like I said before,
some of these people are just amazed that, oh my god, I'm.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Looking at all this time in prison.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
And I think that it would be good if we
could get to the middle school kids and let them
know that there are consequences to their actions. So they
know that the person that they saw that got arrested,
what could potentially happen to that person. You know, not
really a scared straight thing, but just purely factual, you know,
this is what this person is looking at. As far
(18:59):
as the the community, I think too many times the
current prosecutor's office they're at fifty three University have and
they never let leave their office. Prosecutors every day have
to make pretty tough decisions, and some of them are
going to be unpopular. But I'm a big fan of
(19:22):
community meetings, you know, going out and facing the people
and being transparent with them and explaining to them why
certain decisions were.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Made, whether they like it or they don't like it.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
At least being transparent so they know the thought process
that went behind making those decisions.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
I think that's very important for the community, just for
citizens to understand what's going on because there's so much,
so much misunderstanding, mistrust and just misappropriate actions taking place
(20:08):
between law enforcement or and government and just citizens. I
think that that gulf but needs to be eliminated. There's
got to be that engagement with the community.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
And I think it takes all of us, John to.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Be a part of this.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
It can't just it can't work one way, and the
community's got to be receptive to communication.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
And I think that's it's so good.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
That's refreshing to hear you say this, that that will
be something that you'll do well.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
And I think that would help develop frost between the
community and law enforcement. And I know the police department
is out there, you know, trying to establish bonds with
the community, which would make their job so much easier.
I mean, so many times crimes happen in front of
ten people and not one person will will give a
statement because they don't have any trust in the system.
(21:05):
And I think the more transparent you are, the more
open you are and willing to meet with people, the
more you can develop that trust, which frankly is going
to make prosecuting the bad guys easier.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Absolutely, how about working with law enforcement. I like the idea.
You know, that word transparency you know, I guess I
guess that kind of flows right into law enforcement as well.
But how about the prosecutor's office working with law enforcement?
Can you talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, I mean they are.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
They absolutely go hand in hand. I mean the you know,
the law enforcement investigates the crimes, they then hand everything
over us and we prosecute the crimes. But again, there
has to be you know, there's another idea where there
has to be transparency between the two offices so law
enforcement understands why the decisions were made. You know, ironically,
(22:03):
even though I've been a defense attorney for so long,
I have several friends who are police officers, deputy sheriffs,
and everything like that. And I think if everybody is
going for the same goal, which is justice, I'm confident
that my ability to work with the various police departments
in Summit County would be not a problem whatsoever.
Speaker 6 (22:28):
I agree with you one hundred percent there.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Equal justice under the laws is what has to take place.
And are you committed to John Revan to equal justice
under the law.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
That's what it sounds like.
Speaker 4 (22:44):
If you go down to the to Washington, d C.
And go to the Supreme Court building, that's the words
up above it equal justice under law. And again, if
you want to have any kind of confidence or faith,
everybody has to be treated equally. I mean, you know,
you think of the statue of Lady Justice. She's wearing
a blindfold for a reason, and that reason is you
(23:06):
can't look at people and decide if theer and base
your decisions on whether they're rich or poor, or black
or white, or men or women, or straight or gay
or whatever. You have to be fair across the board.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Oh and that's great to hear you say that, and
most of all, your record, your record says it all.
And I like the fact that you know this is
not a commercial, it's not this has not been scripted.
You have you haven't had time to rehearse questions or
anything like that. This is not a debate where which
(23:38):
is almost like a big show or production, something that's
made for TV. Just speaking from your heart, and to
hear you say that, you know you've been on both
sides of it. You've represented those who have been in trouble,
those have had problems, and you know to prosecute them
as well.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
I think that that says a lot. That's that's you
can't ask.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
For more qualifications in an individual who's going to be
in that prosecutor's seat, one that has understanding, compassion, wants
to protect the community, which is so desperately needed. John,
there's something you know wherever just about out of time here,
please tell us why John Grevin for prosecutor? Why John
(24:27):
Grevin for prosecutor?
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Well, first of all, because I am a prosecutor, I
would be a prosecutor. I would not be a politician.
I have never run for office. This is all brand
new to me. I'm not trying to run for prosecutors.
So in two years I can run for judge, and
four years I can run for something else. I've seen
(24:50):
the issues that plagued the prosecutor's office in Summit County,
you know, from the defense side, I want to get
in there and fix those issues that make this community
better for everybody. Experience wise, you know, my opponent is
actually a friend of mine. But experience wise, I've handled
over three hundred major felony trials in my career. You know,
(25:15):
I've handled probably forty murder trials, seven or eight death
penalty cases. I mean, my experience in the courtroom is
really pretty unmatched by anybody in any lawyers in Puming County.
And like I said, I've gone. We're providing justice for
my clients. Hopefully with the help of the people to
vote for me, where I can provide justice for the
(25:37):
entire community on a larger scale.
Speaker 6 (25:41):
Thank you so much. Wow, we've been listening and talking
with John Grevin, who was a candidate for Summit County
Prosecutor in the Great City, an area of Akron, Ohio,
with the many different municipalities that make up Summit County.
So to our audience again, thank you, and keep fighting
the good fight. Let's all remember that we can make
(26:04):
our communities better, our cities better, our states better, in
this great country a better place for all of us.
Let's just keep remembering to do better and God bless
you John Grevin, and to our audience, thank you again.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Taking This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast Network,
where Real Talk Lives. Visitors online at fcbpodcasts dot com.
FCB Faith is your rhythm and prey station. I listen,
my mom listens, pretty much the whole family.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
I cannot, I cannot.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
I canna.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Said, don't, don't.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
And don't listen to f CB Faith on iHeartRadio, Odyssey
(00:59):
at faith dot com, or tell your smart speaker to
play FCB Faith on iHeartRadio.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
The following is a presentation of FCB Faith. This is
the Jeff Glory in Nick Show.
Speaker 5 (01:28):
Welcome to the Jefflori and Nick Show.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
And we are excited because we are in an election
season this year, and right now we have an awesome
guest this morning, just one who's just really qualified.
Speaker 5 (01:42):
And I tell you he is a candidate.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
For a county prosecutor in the state of Ohio in
Summit County. Just it's He's gonna tell us a little
bit about his race and the area that he represents,
and I'll tell you it's a very very important race,
and I think that all of us need to know
what a county prosecutor does and just the importance of
(02:08):
the county prosecutor's role in our daily lives. Welcome to
our show, John Grevin, how are you today, sir?
Speaker 2 (02:17):
I'm very well, thank you for having me.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Glad to have you here, John.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
This election season, there's so many different folks on the
ballot and so many different races and just issues we
need to know about the importance of your election, your race,
this county prosecutor's job. It seems as though once someone
is elected to that position, they hold it for quite
(02:44):
some time.
Speaker 6 (02:45):
So John, can you tell us a.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
Little bit about yourself and give me just a little
bit of your background.
Speaker 6 (02:50):
Let our audience know just a little bit about you.
Speaker 4 (02:55):
Sure, I'm originally from upstate New York. I moved I
have a back degree in mathematics, I have a master's
degree in education, and I have a law degree from
Cleveland Marshall College of Law. I first moved to Ohio
in nineteen ninety one, so I've been an Ohio resident
now for.
Speaker 2 (03:13):
Thirty three years.
Speaker 4 (03:15):
Moved to go to law school, became a resident of
Summit County in nineteen ninety four. After I was done
with law school. My first job out of law school
was actually as an assistant Summer County Prosecutor. I was
hired by Maureen O'Connor, who later on went to become
Lieutenant governor as well as chief Justice of the Ohio
(03:37):
Supreme Court. I worked under Maureen and then I worked
under her successor, Mike Callahan, who now was pretty much
my best friend. Worked in the Prosecutor's office for about
seven years. By the time I started off at the bottom,
you know, doing low level felonies. By the time I
(03:58):
had left the office, I was handing nothing but murder
cases and aggravated murder cases, and you know, they were
kind of my specialty. When the election of two thousand happened,
things changed and I was not welcome back in the office.
I actually went in practice medical malpractice defense for a
(04:18):
couple of years. But there's something really exciting about the
fast pace of criminal law. So in two thousand and two,
myself and three other former prosecutors formed a law firm Callahan, Grevin, Riley,
and sin Who.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Oh awesome.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Okay, Yeah, I'd like you to just elaborate a little
bit more about that, because I know that you even
called one of the four horsemen, and I've heard that
over and over that you're one of the four horsemen.
Speaker 5 (04:51):
Tell us how did that come? How that term come
into being?
Speaker 4 (04:54):
In Yeah, like I said, we formed a law firm.
Mike Callahan, myself, Johnson, and Scott Riley, and we developed
the nickname of four Horsemen, And frankly that was created
by our clients. We didn't come up with that. All
of a sudden people started referring to us as that.
(05:14):
And you know the main reason for that is we
were all former Stomach County prosecutors.
Speaker 2 (05:21):
And we.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
As defense attorneys defending our clients, making sure that our
clients received justice. We had an extreme amount of success,
and so word got out on the street and people
started calling us the four horsemen. And you know, part
of my reason for running is, like I said, I've
been fortunate as the defense attorney, I think delivered justice
(05:47):
to virtually all of my clients, whatever that may be
given the individual facts of a case. But it's one
thing to try to get justice for my clients, which
are maybe two or three hundred in a year, as
opposed to if I am the Summer County prosecutor, I
can try to get justice for every client that comes
(06:07):
through the criminal justice system.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
How do you feel as though you connect with the community,
I mean, being one of the four horsemen, Like, do
you feel as though that's really.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
Strengthened some of your connections with community folks.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
I think it does. You know, like I said, I
represent two or three hundred people of a year, so
over the course of twenty years, you.
Speaker 4 (06:36):
Know, that's several thousand people who are you know, community
members are who are people inacron rich people, poor people,
white people, black people, men, women, you know, you name it.
And I represented them, and I think I've done a
good job to represent them. And I think because of that,
I think hopefully people when they hear my name, and
(06:58):
especially when they hear the part about the four horsemen,
they will know that my qualifications are legitimate and that
I am curious about this job and again could help
to deliver justice, whatever that may be, to a wider
range of the community.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
I think having that experience really means a lot in
the prosecutor's position, being able to, you know, have that
connection or to walk into that office already having that
connection with the community and folks knowing exactly how you've
been successful in court cases. I think that means a lot.
(07:40):
Let's talk about the office that you're running for.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
So excuse me just to follow up on what you
said there before we get to that. I think that
my time actually is a criminal defense attorney will actually
make me a better prosecutor. I think sometimes secuters the
only thing they know about a case or what they
read in the file, what they read as far as
(08:04):
the police reports are and everything. As a defense attorney,
I know that every case goes much deeper than that
that Every defendant is a person who has, you know,
the different struggles, and I think it would help me
to take a bigger picture of the people that we
are prosecuting. The sum County Prosecutor is actually, according to
(08:26):
a High Revice Code, the chief law enforcement officer of
Summit County. There are four divisions in the office. There's
a tax division, There's a Child Support Enforcement Agency division
we handle child support. There's a civil division. We represent
county office holders and things of that when they are
sued civilly. But the most important job, and the one
(08:47):
of that people are probably most familiar with, are we
prosecute all of the felony cases that happened in the
jurisdiction of some accounty.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
Okay, I think that's really important for people to know
because you may not be when I say you, the
person listening to this show may not actually be one
be the one or at any time or may have
not been in the court system or justice system dealing
with attorneys and going before a judge. But sometimes and
(09:19):
many times, we know a family member that has or
someone who close, a friend or an associate that has
been in the court system, and I think it's so
important to have someone who is well rounded in that
prosecutor's office and that being as the county prosecutor, so
that they can oversee these cases that your prosecutors are
(09:44):
are working on. I think this is so important in
this day and age where you take into account so
many different factors in just knowing being on the other
side on both sides of the table in the courtroom,
as I think that just means a lot. That's that
means a lot to every individual or family that has
(10:07):
someone who's dealing in the justice system seeking justice or.
Speaker 5 (10:15):
Day.
Speaker 4 (10:15):
I agree because again, I think it helps me to
look at the big picture of the individual as opposed
to just what's you know, the words on a police report.
And even if you don't have somebody involved in the
criminal justice system. Everybody wants to feel safe in their community.
People want to be able to go to the civic
theater in downtown Akron on a Friday night to see
(10:36):
a show without fear of being a victim of crime. So,
you know, my philosophy as a prosecutor would be to
focus our time and our resources on frenchly, the bad people,
the violent people, you know, the rapist, the murders, the assaulters,
the you know, the armed robbers, things like that, as
(10:56):
opposed to the lower level people, many who are addicted
to drugs or many of whom, frankly, just make a
stupid you know, young kids that make a stupid decision.
And so my philosophy would be focus on the bad guys.
Let's put the bad guys away because they are danger
to the community and for the people at the other
(11:19):
end of the spectrum, Let's try to see if we
can get those people help, because if we can get
them help at an early age or an early stage
of their criminal career, maybe we can stop that revolving
door where they don't screw up, go to prison, get out,
screw up, go to prison, get out. And if we
can kind of nip it in the bud, I think
(11:40):
everybody benefits.
Speaker 3 (11:43):
Absolutely. We hear so much about the crime in the
city of Akron. You know, you know, it spills out
into other municipalities within Summit County and of course even
in other areas, other cities.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Job you.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
I was going to ask you about public safety, but
you've got a tech touched on that quite a bit.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
But I would just say that you know, every woman,
every senior, every child, UH needs to every gentleman, every person,
every senior citizen needs to feel safe. And it's of
the utmost importance.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
It's imperative that you know that issue be addressed and
taken serious to get UH to make our safe, our
streets safe. That's that's the bottom line.
Speaker 4 (12:34):
I said, by far, the most important job of the
prosecutor is the criminal division and to provide the citizens
of Summer County was a safe environment.
Speaker 3 (12:45):
You know, I wasn't going to ask you this, but
what kind of why do you think it's out of control?
Speaker 5 (12:49):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
You know, we we hear on the news about crime
and various cities, and acron happens to be one of
them where it sometimes seems as though the crime is
out of control.
Speaker 6 (13:01):
Can you elaborate on that? Can you touch on it?
Speaker 5 (13:03):
Well?
Speaker 2 (13:05):
I think it's a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (13:06):
I think that it's there are certain things that the
that I could do is to prosecutor, but there are
other things that are a much deeper, so stytal problem.
Right what I could do is a prosecutor. I mean,
the main problem now is the availability of guns. So
many people have guns. And you know, in the old days,
(13:29):
if you and I had a disagreement, we might throw
punches at each other, and that's the way things are settled.
That's not what happens anymore. People pull out their guns.
They start shooting at each other, you know, And I
think a part of that, you know, I talked.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
About the greater societal things.
Speaker 4 (13:42):
There is a kind of a lack of opportunity for
a certain segment of the community. And you know, if
the opportunity isn't there for a job that pays you
a decent wage, well then maybe you fall back on
something that's a little bit.
Speaker 5 (13:56):
Easier exactly now.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
And that leads me to the question I was going
to ask you about just rehabilitating folks, especially our young people.
You know, we've always said a mind is a terrible
thing to waste, and you know, our young people are
our future.
Speaker 5 (14:13):
But I'll tell you.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
Our young people are committed a lot of young people
are going the wrong way and they're committing crimes, and
they are not our future. They are very detrimental to
what's going on right now. You're seeing a lot of
We're seeing a lot of younger people, even ages eleven
and twelve, breaking in cars.
Speaker 5 (14:34):
Is there anything that.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
You or the prosecutor can do to make to rehabilitate
our young people.
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Well, I think a couple of things.
Speaker 4 (14:45):
I think one part of the criminal division of the
Prosecutor's office is there's a you know, there's a juvenile
court in some accounty and there's a juvenile division of
the of the criminal branch of the prosecutor's office. I
think juvenile enforcement needs to be tough enough because it
is amazing to me the clients that I have that
(15:06):
are adults that have gone through the juvenile system and
really gotten slaps on the wrists with no accountability whatsoever,
and then all of a sudden they become nineteen and
they do something and they're shocked that you know, oh
my god, I'm looking at you know, eight years in prison?
Speaker 2 (15:21):
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 4 (15:22):
And I think that more needs to be done with
juvenile prosecutions. There needs to be more accountability for people
in the juvenile system.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
Without a doubt, more does need to be done with
our young people.
Speaker 3 (15:37):
I'm sure you have some ideas, and just having that
perspective means a lot, because you know, so many young
people are repeat offenders. There's got to be an effort
that works to stop these young people from going back
(15:59):
repeating the same, uh, you know, a different crime or
the same crime, and just that recidivism is just devastating
to the child and their their future and the future
and not just the future of our of our cities
and our communities, but to the very present time. You know,
(16:21):
a lot of sad things and crimes that happen. And again,
those who are least able to protect themselves young people, uh,
you know, innocent children, women and seniors.
Speaker 5 (16:36):
I'm not and even I'm not leaving out men.
Speaker 3 (16:39):
But you know, we've all become victims and we need,
we need to address this. We're gonna take a quick
break and we're gonna ask our audience just to stick
around with us.
Speaker 5 (16:48):
We'll be right back. We're back with our.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Guest, John Grevin, was a candidate for Summit County prosecutor. Wow,
we just we still have a lot to unpack, and
we've we were talking about rehabilitation efforts for for.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
People minor offenses.
Speaker 3 (17:21):
Basically at this time, I am going to move on
to another question that I had in mind for you, John,
and that's about enhancing the relationships of the community of
the prosecutor's office with the community. How do we how
do we build a stronger relationship with the community. Oftentimes
(17:42):
there is a strain between law enforcement or.
Speaker 5 (17:45):
Or yeah, government and the community. What can you do
to just.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Strengthen or enhance the relationship there between the community and
the prosecutor's office.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
Well, well, one of the things that I've that I
would like to implement, and it kind of tags on
to what you were talking about during the break about
juvenile crime, is having times where prosecutors going to the
middle schools and talk to kids who are twelve and
thirteen years old, Because in talking to people, it's my experience,
(18:18):
if you're a thirteen year old kid, you may see
your neighbor being arrested. You may see him putting handcuffs
and let out to a police car and put in
the car, and you have no idea what happens after that.
And I think sometimes you know, like I said before,
some of these people are just amazed that, oh my god, I'm.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
Looking at all this time in prison.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
And I think that it would be good if we
could get to the middle school kids and let them
know that there are consequences to their actions. So they
know that the person that they saw that got arrested,
what could potentially happen to that person. You know, not
really a scared straight thing, but just purely factual, you know,
this is what this person is looking at. As far
(18:59):
as the the community, I think too many times the
current prosecutor's office they're at fifty three University have and
they never let leave their office. Prosecutors every day have
to make pretty tough decisions, and some of them are
going to be unpopular. But I'm a big fan of
(19:22):
community meetings, you know, going out and facing the people
and being transparent with them and explaining to them why
certain decisions were.
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Made, whether they like it or they don't like it.
Speaker 4 (19:34):
At least being transparent so they know the thought process
that went behind making those decisions.
Speaker 6 (19:42):
I think that's very important for the community, just for
citizens to understand what's going on because there's so much,
so much misunderstanding, mistrust and just misappropriate actions taking place
(20:08):
between law enforcement or and government and just citizens. I
think that that gulf but needs to be eliminated. There's
got to be that engagement with the community.
Speaker 3 (20:23):
And I think it takes all of us, John to.
Speaker 5 (20:28):
Be a part of this.
Speaker 3 (20:29):
It can't just it can't work one way, and the
community's got to be receptive to communication.
Speaker 5 (20:35):
And I think that's it's so good.
Speaker 3 (20:38):
That's refreshing to hear you say this, that that will
be something that you'll do well.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
And I think that would help develop frost between the
community and law enforcement. And I know the police department
is out there, you know, trying to establish bonds with
the community, which would make their job so much easier.
I mean, so many times crimes happen in front of
ten people and not one person will will give a
statement because they don't have any trust in the system.
(21:05):
And I think the more transparent you are, the more
open you are and willing to meet with people, the
more you can develop that trust, which frankly is going
to make prosecuting the bad guys easier.
Speaker 3 (21:17):
Absolutely, how about working with law enforcement. I like the idea.
You know, that word transparency you know, I guess I
guess that kind of flows right into law enforcement as well.
But how about the prosecutor's office working with law enforcement?
Can you talk about that a little bit.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, I mean they are.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
They absolutely go hand in hand. I mean the you know,
the law enforcement investigates the crimes, they then hand everything
over us and we prosecute the crimes. But again, there
has to be you know, there's another idea where there
has to be transparency between the two offices so law
enforcement understands why the decisions were made. You know, ironically,
(22:03):
even though I've been a defense attorney for so long,
I have several friends who are police officers, deputy sheriffs,
and everything like that. And I think if everybody is
going for the same goal, which is justice, I'm confident
that my ability to work with the various police departments
in Summit County would be not a problem whatsoever.
Speaker 6 (22:28):
I agree with you one hundred percent there.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
Equal justice under the laws is what has to take place.
And are you committed to John Revan to equal justice
under the law.
Speaker 5 (22:42):
That's what it sounds like.
Speaker 4 (22:44):
If you go down to the to Washington, d C.
And go to the Supreme Court building, that's the words
up above it equal justice under law. And again, if
you want to have any kind of confidence or faith,
everybody has to be treated equally. I mean, you know,
you think of the statue of Lady Justice. She's wearing
a blindfold for a reason, and that reason is you
(23:06):
can't look at people and decide if theer and base
your decisions on whether they're rich or poor, or black
or white, or men or women, or straight or gay
or whatever. You have to be fair across the board.
Speaker 3 (23:18):
Oh and that's great to hear you say that, and
most of all, your record, your record says it all.
And I like the fact that you know this is
not a commercial, it's not this has not been scripted.
You have you haven't had time to rehearse questions or
anything like that. This is not a debate where which
(23:38):
is almost like a big show or production, something that's
made for TV. Just speaking from your heart, and to
hear you say that, you know you've been on both
sides of it. You've represented those who have been in trouble,
those have had problems, and you know to prosecute them
as well.
Speaker 5 (23:58):
I think that that says a lot. That's that's you
can't ask.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
For more qualifications in an individual who's going to be
in that prosecutor's seat, one that has understanding, compassion, wants
to protect the community, which is so desperately needed. John,
there's something you know wherever just about out of time here,
please tell us why John Grevin for prosecutor? Why John
(24:27):
Grevin for prosecutor?
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Well, first of all, because I am a prosecutor, I
would be a prosecutor. I would not be a politician.
I have never run for office. This is all brand
new to me. I'm not trying to run for prosecutors.
So in two years I can run for judge, and
four years I can run for something else. I've seen
(24:50):
the issues that plagued the prosecutor's office in Summit County,
you know, from the defense side, I want to get
in there and fix those issues that make this community
better for everybody. Experience wise, you know, my opponent is
actually a friend of mine. But experience wise, I've handled
over three hundred major felony trials in my career. You know,
(25:15):
I've handled probably forty murder trials, seven or eight death
penalty cases. I mean, my experience in the courtroom is
really pretty unmatched by anybody in any lawyers in Puming County.
And like I said, I've gone. We're providing justice for
my clients. Hopefully with the help of the people to
vote for me, where I can provide justice for the
(25:37):
entire community on a larger scale.
Speaker 6 (25:41):
Thank you so much. Wow, we've been listening and talking
with John Grevin, who was a candidate for Summit County
Prosecutor in the Great City, an area of Akron, Ohio,
with the many different municipalities that make up Summit County.
So to our audience again, thank you, and keep fighting
the good fight. Let's all remember that we can make
(26:04):
our communities better, our cities better, our states better, in
this great country a better place for all of us.
Let's just keep remembering to do better and God bless
you John Grevin, and to our audience, thank you again.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Taking This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast Network,
where Real Talk Lives. Visitors online at fcbpodcasts dot com.
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