Court hearing for the Lorain County prosecutor and chief of staff facing criminal charges

The hearing will take place before visiting judge Patrick Carroll.

Tomlinson is accused of evidence tampering, intimidation and attempted bribery.

Burge is accused of evidence tampering and intimidation.

Former Franklin County Prosecutor Ronald O’Brien was appointed special prosecutor in the case.

According to a 22-page report from the Lorain County Sheriff’s Office, the charges are based on allegations made by former employee Jennifer Battistelli.

According to the report, Battistelli began working at the district attorney’s office in January 2021 and began dating Tomlinson later that spring.

Battistelli claimed that Tomlinson was obsessed with her and called her hundreds of times a day.

In the summer of 2023, Battistelli filed a formal complaint against Tomlinson and resigned.

She said Tomlinson and Burge tried to make false statements to get her to drop her complaints.

19 News reached out to both Tomlinson and Burge for comment but did not hear back.

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