Judge seals record of ex-board candidate

ELYRIA —  A county judge has agreed to seal the criminal record of a Lorain pastor convicted of misdemeanor assault in 1995.

Prosecutors didn’t oppose Terrance Bivins’ request to expunge the conviction that stemmed from a Nov. 28, 1994, incident in which he also was charged with robbery. Then-Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Kosma Glavas cleared Bivins of the robbery charge but found him guilty of assault.

During the trial, the store clerk, Sharon Masters, testified that she and Bivins got into a tug-of-war over a dress his wife had complained was damaged at the store. She said at the time she fell backward and injured her back and Bivins left without paying.

Bivins — who received probation in the case — hasn’t been charged with a crime since, his attorney JD Tomlinson told county Common Pleas Judge Christopher Rothgery at Wednesday’s hearing. He also has no prior criminal convictions, Tomlinson said.

Bivins, who lost his bid for Lorain school board earlier this month, largely declined to comment as he left the courtroom.

“I’m just thankful this is over,” he said.

Court reporter faces drunk driving charge

LAGRANGE — A county judge’s court reporter was charged with drunken driving after a traffic stop in LaGrange on Saturday.

Tracy Reiman, who works for Lorain County Common Pleas Judge James Burge, was stopped by a LaGrange officer about 7:45 p.m. in the village’s public square after someone called the Ohio Highway Patrol to report she was driving erratically, said LaGrange police Chief Daniel Moore.

Reiman, 41, had slurred speech and told the officer that she had two glasses of wine, Moore said, but she failed field sobriety tests.

She was taken to the Highway Patrol post in Elyria, where a test determined that she had a blood-alcohol level of .26, well above the legal limit in Ohio of .08, Moore said.

After being charged with DUI and having a high blood-alcohol level, Reiman was released to her mother, Moore said.

Reiman doesn’t have a previous DUI on her record. She pleaded not guilty to the charges during an appearance in Elyria Municipal Court.

Reiman, who remains on the job, declined to comment on the arrest.

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