Atty Gen: Petro (R) Denounces Attack Ads Based on Defending Criminals

State Auditor Betty Montgomery (R-Perrysburg) has stepped up her attacks against State Sen. Marc Dann (D-Liberty Township) based on a criminal case he handled in 2001, defending a man who was convicted of pandering obscenity to minors.

Today Montgomery's mud-slinging provoked further backlash, as Attorney General Jim Petro (R-Rocky River) condemned attack ads that cast attorneys in a bad light for clients they have represented. Petro joins the Ohio State Bar Association, Republican Judge R. Scott Krichbaum (who presided over the 2001 pandering case), and others in condemning candidates like Montgomery who use these negative attacks on attorneys.

Here is the audio:


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The audio records that when Petro was asked about the negative ads being used, Petro said, "I think the Bar Association properly points out that lawyers don't always get to choose their client. I mean, there are times in my career- 33 years now ... but there are times when the courts basically said to me 'look, we want you to defend this guy. He's a bad guy, but somebody needs to defend him'. What a lawyer does in defense of a client should not become a negative issue in a political campaign."