A judge candidate’s alleged assault of his brother has led St. Joseph County Commissioners to effectively fire their attorney.
Commissioners not only have downplayed Loris Zappia’s alleged assault on his brother Len as a dispute among brothers. They’ve effectively fired county attorney Michael Misch for telling them about it.
County Democrats say the all-Republican commissioners fired Misch because he has refused to help “cover up” the incident. Republican Commissioners President Carl Baxmeyer says an attorney and the county human resources office investigated and could not substantiate a credible threat against Misch.
Baxmeyer confirmed with WVPE that differences they had with Misch over the incident played a role in asking him to quit or be fired.
Loris is a deputy prosecutor who’s running as a Republican for probate judge against incumbent Democratic Probate Judge Jason Cichowicz. Len is a magistrate under Cichowicz.
On August 9 Loris, angry at Len over an article he saw on Facebook, reportedly hit and spat on Len in Len’s home. Len describes the incident in interviews with county human resources officials. It’s all laid out in documents that Democrats obtained in a public records request and released to the media last week.
