Judge: Man's a 'vexatious litigator'

Kimball Perry 

Cincinnati Enquirer 

October 8, 2009

Saint Torrance isn't a lawyer but he's kept the Hamilton County courts busy with the dozens of lawsuits he's filed.

The Westwood man has sued tenants, utility companies and judges, prompting one judge to take the unusual step of ordering Torrance to file no more lawsuits without first getting permission.

Torrance "has repeatedly wasted the resources of the State of Ohio, Hamilton County, and this court by filing frivolous lawsuits and motions having no foundation," Common Pleas Court Judge Ralph "Ted" Winkler wrote in an Oct. 5 order.

Winkler declared Torrance a "vexatious litigator," or someone who files suits to harass or malign.

That designation prevents Torrance from filing any more suits in Hamilton County unless he first gets permission from the presiding judge.

Torrance, 42, responded to Winkler's order by filing a complaint with the Ohio Supreme Court.

Since 2007, Torrance has filed 21 lawsuits in Hamilton County courts and 16 complaints in the Ohio Supreme Court.

Many of the Supreme Court complaints are against Hamilton County judges who ruled in favor of those he sued.

"I've been in that courthouse 20 years and have not got paid on one of my cases," Torrance said after Winkler's order.

That's because they are ill-considered, often indecipherable and rarely based on the law, Winkler countered.

In one case, Torrance sued a free, online auto valuation service after it valued his vehicles - which Torrance believed were worth thousands of dollars - at $500 each.

"They told me my vehicles were junk," Torrance said. He sued and lost.

What particularly invoked Winkler's ire was Torrance's suit against Time Warner Cable after his Internet service was disrupted.

"Some days it was out for weeks at a time," Torrance's suit noted.

That was the second such suit he filed against Time Warner. After the first, Winkler warned Torrance to stop filing needless lawsuits. Winkler ruled in favor of Time Warner in both cases but the company's attorneys were so exasperated by Torrance, they asked Winkler to declare him a vexatious litigator.

"This is the first time I've had it come up. I think it's pretty rare," Winkler said.

Torrance files the suits himself, he said, because the attorneys he has hired in the past were inept.

"They didn't do their jobs," he said.

Torrance, also known as Torrance Smith, said he is a disabled veteran trying to make it in the world with the help of his belief: "God made this law, not man and man is the one who bends it," Torrance said.

"All the judges in Common Pleas Court are not actually following the law," he said.

He sued many of them to make that point.

In addition to Winkler, Torrance has sued or filed complaints against all of the judges in the Cincinnati-based 1st District Court of Appeals - because they upheld the rulings of other judges who ruled against him - as well as Hamilton County judges Beth Myers, William Mallory, Norbert Nadel, Ethna Cooper, Jerome Metz, John "Skip" West, Dennis Helmick, Fanon Rucker, Lisa Allen, Julie Stautberg and three magistrates.

"If a judge follows the law and he doesn't like it, he files a complaint against the judge," Winkler said.

For good measure, Torrance also filed complaints against Prosecutor Joe Deters and at least one of his assistant prosecutors, Clerk of Courts Patty Clancy and the Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati.

"He's got too much time on his hands," Winkler said. "We have to do something to stop the frivolous cases."