Brandon King is challenging his May felony convictions for theft in office and unlawful interest in public contracts, along with misdemeanor convictions, claiming prosecutors failed to prove criminal intent.
Brandon King, right, pictured at his July sentencing hearing. He is challenging felony convictions for theft in office and unlawful interest in public contracts, along with misdemeanor convictions, claiming prosecutors failed to prove criminal intent.
In an appellate brief filed Friday, King argued his May convictions on three fourth-degree felonies, along with several misdemeanors, should be thrown out due to insufficient evidence. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Hollie Gallagher sentenced King in July to three years of probation, with nearly $28,000 in financial penalties, after a jury found him guilty of theft in office and two counts of having an unlawful interest in a public contract.“We look forward to being vindicated in the court of appeals,” King’s attorney, assistant public defender Robert McCaleb, told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer on Wednesday. “I think there were a number of problems in this case.” The brief, authored by McCaleb, says King’s criminal case stemmed from “fierce political disagreements” between King and the East Cleveland City Council. Prosecutors have maintained that King steered more than $75,000 in spending to businesses tied to his family, including rent payments for the city’s domestic violence program, to a building owned by King Management Group, and nearly $6,000 in supply purchases from American Merchandising Services. King has disputed the allegations, arguing that the contracts predated his time in office and that the transactions followed longstanding city practices. His appeal asserts that prosecutors failed to demonstrate criminal intent and that the evidence did not meet the burden required for felony convictions. The appellate brief argues other errors, including the removal of the only Black male juror in the jury selection pool, a man who had served as a city commissioner. Prosecutors say the juror was dismissed because of that role, a rationale McCaleb called a “mere pretext” in his brief. During jury selection, the juror’s answers showed he could be fair and impartial, according to McCaleb.Lexi Bauer, a spokeswoman for the county prosecutor’s office, pointed out that prosecutors did not strike two Black women from the jury panel. “The Cuyahoga County Prosecutors’ Office does not dismiss jurors based on a protected class, including race, ever,” she told cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. The appeal also argues that Gallagher erred in imposing King’s financial penalties and that the conditions of his probation -- alcohol and drug testing -- are inappropriate, given there is no evidence alcohol or drug abuse influenced King’s behavior. Prosecutors are expected to file their full response to the appeal in the coming weeks. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley previously called King’s sentence, handed down by Gallagher, “disgraceful” for being too soft. “Brandon King received a fair trial, and the state of Ohio anticipates prevailing in the appeal,” Bauer said. “We will respond to each assignment of error in our appellate brief, and our response will speak for itself.”David Gambino is a court reporter for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com. He joined the news outlet in 2025 after covering crime and justice for The Decatur Daily in Alabama. An Air Force veteran, he holds a...
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