Why did the Cuyahoga County District Attorney recused himself from the Bobby George case?

CLEVELAND – News 5 investigated Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley's campaign donation reports to find out why he may have recused himself from the Bobby George case.

George, the owner of TownHall and Barley House, was charged with attempted murder, rape, four counts of kidnapping, aggravated assault and two counts of strangulation. All charges are capital felonies.

On August 9, an arrest warrant was issued against him.

He turned himself in the following week.

The George case fell under the jurisdiction of District Attorney O'Malley.

During George's hearing, his attorney, Kevin Spellacy, asked for $100,000 bail, saying his client had no criminal record and had “great” ties to the community.

The prosecutor under O'Malley's supervision agreed to a $100,000 bail.

Judge Sheila Turner McCall then asked the prosecutor, “Given this probable cause, is that all you have to say?” The prosecutor replied, “Yes.”

The judge then said she would not set bail of $100,000 because the charges were “horrific.” She then doubled the bail amount to $200,000.

“We initially experienced a lot of outrage because the prosecutor in that first courtroom appearance only asked for $100,000 bail. I would say if you look at any other attempted murder case where an indictment is filed, it would be highly unlikely that you would find $100,000 bail anywhere else. And it was an employee of the Cuyahoga County District Attorney's Office who made that request,” said Matthew Ahn, a former opponent of O'Malley in the 2024 race for Cuyahoga County District Attorney.

Since then, O'Malley has recused himself from the George case.

Many are wondering why this seemingly sudden withdrawal occurred.

News 5 has combed through dozens of pages of O'Malley's 2016 campaign donation reports.

News 5 can confirm that the George family donated $19,949.50 over the course of eight years. Additionally, our partners at Signal Cleveland report that Tony George, Bobby's father, donated $20,000 to O'Malley's re-election campaign in the months leading up to this year's Democratic primary.

Of those nearly $40,000 in donations, Bobby George's name is listed under the “Food and Drink” heading with a donation of $1,305.64.

The Barley House and Summer House were listed in the campaign materials for rental services and food and beverage.

George's lawyer Kevin Spellacy and his brother Leo are also named as donors.

Spellacy and his brother have donated a total of $5,350 over the years.

News 5 asked Spellacy if campaign contributions might have played a role in O'Malley's resignation.

“Oh, I think it absolutely is. I believe in good government. I believe in good judges. I believe in good prosecutors and I do my part, as every citizen should. The Georges are the same way. We want a fair day in court and at the end of the day, if [O’Malley] believes that our fair day in court will be compromised because someone gave him money, Amen,” Spellacy said.

Ahn told News 5 that O'Malley's recusal was the only reasonable course of action in this case.

“We want to make sure that people have confidence in the legal system, and we can only have confidence in the legal system if it doesn't look like there's anything weird going on,” he said. “The fact that it's taken so long and the conversations about it in and of themselves are a problem. But I think this was the right decision for the future, regardless of the reasons and the timing.”

Spellacy has no objections to the change in law enforcement and says he would take on anyone in court.

“I'm a litigator. I don't need an advantage. I need fairness and I need good people,” he added. “I don't care who the prosecutor is. Whoever it is, I'm ready to proceed with our case.”

Hanlin is currently reviewing George's case.

We will continue to follow the development of this story.