Truesee's Daily Wonder

Dispute over noisy kids gets bride bounced from courthouse

Kimball Perry

Cincinnati.Com 

Janice Doane was all dolled up in a black-and-white gown she wore Thursday for her wedding ceremony at the Hamilton County Courthouse.

But some attitude and hurt feelings resulted not only in Doane not getting married, but also in getting her thrown out of the courthouse with her fiancé and four kids in tow.

"I've been here 18 years, baby. This is a first," said Percy Milton, a Clerk of Courts employee who witnessed the incident.

Doane, 27, of Colerain Township, got her marriage license Thursday and went to the courthouse with her fiancé, Luis Fabian Ruiz, and her children.

While waiting for Municipal Court Judge Ted Berry to perform the ceremony, Doane, Ruiz and the children waited in the hall. But the children created such a racket running up and down the halls and screaming, Berry said other workers on the floor complained.

Berry's pregnant bailiff, Jamie Coates-Donohue, went into the hall a couple of times to ask for quiet. The last time, she asked one child to calm down.

That set off Doane, who thought it improper for the bailiff to directly address her child.

"She wasn't woman enough to tell me to my face," Doane said.

Coates-Donohue insisted she wasn't rude to Doane, she just wanted her to keep her children from disrupting court proceedings.

"She said, 'Don't tell me what to do,' " the bailiff said.

Doane insists her child was needlessly scared by the bailiff.

"I told her, 'What you did was wrong,' " Doane said. "I told her I didn't want to hear anything else she had to say and to get out of my face.

"(She) should have handled it professionally instead of like someone off the streets."

The bailiff suggested Doane would listen to the judge and summoned Berry.

"She was very rude to my bailiff," Berry said. "She's my bailiff. She's an arm of the court."

Doane and Ruiz have been together for 10 years, Doane said, and have been anxiously awaiting their wedding day.

"For that to happen to me today just broke my heart," Doane said. "They just politely threw me out."

Every 14 weeks, each Municipal Court judge is the "duty" judge, responsible for duties that include performing wedding ceremonies that can include walk-ins. Doane was scheduled to be married at 2 p.m. but was thrown out of the courthouse before then.

"We're not refusing to marry her," Berry said. "She can come back next week."

Doane said she planned to hire someone to perform the ceremony Thursday night.

Berry is no stranger to controversy.

In a July 10, 2007, court case, Berry ordered Ivan Boykins to spend 30 days in jail. An upset Boykins responded by telling the judge "f--- you." Berry responded to Boykins using the same phrase.