WATCH: Ashli Ford seeks to delay hearing
No joke: Attorney doesn't want First Amendment case crowding his vaycay
SANDUSKY — An attorney representing Ashli Ford asked a three-judge panel to delay the convicted podcaster’s hearing next week, saying he’s got a long-planned vacation scheduled.
Peter Pattakos wants the U.S. District Court to set a different date for the hearing, where he and Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter will have 15 minutes each to make oral arguments to the court on Ford’s appeal of her May 2025 felony intimidation convictions.
At its center, this is a clash between the First Amendment and Ohio’s intimidation laws: Ashli Ford’s defense argues that her Facebook post—referencing “escorting” Norwalk city officials to their “demise” like Malcolm X—was merely “caustic political hyperbole” aimed at exposing corruption and is therefore protected speech that the trial court misconstrued as a “true threat.”
Conversely, Erie County Prosecutor Kevin Baxter maintains that the post was a targeted criminal act of intimidation designed to instill fear in witnesses of an active case against her, while also raising a significant procedural hurdle: that Ford legally “waived” these constitutional arguments by failing to adequately present them during her initial trial.
‘Extraordinary circumstances?’
Pattakos’ request to delay the hearing might be met with a chilly response considering the three judges already told attorneys in the case that the court was unlikely to change the hearing date.
“The argument date will be firm,” the March 16 scheduling ruling states. “The court will not entertain requests to reschedule arguments absent extraordinary circumstances.”
Ford is currently under investigation by the Erie County Probation Department related to three recent complaints from the public alleging that she continues exploiting and harming people using social media to threaten them. One of those complaints was filed by StayTunedSandusky.com on my behalf.
She also faces trial in May on forgery and mortgage fraud charges. Prosecutors say she forged her ex-husband’s name on loan documents in 2020 and received a $30,000 COVID mortgage relief grant and a new mortgage for the home in which she was living with her new husband, Ezekiel Ford. Ford has claimed her ex-husband lied about signing the loan documents. She and Ezekiel Ford were recently court-ordered to vacate the residence after the mortgage company foreclosed on the home.
Pattakos, in his motion for delay, told the court he is “scheduled to be out of the state with his wife and school-aged children on a long-planned family vacation” on April 1. He asked the court to consider rescheduling the hearing for a time after April 17. The change was requested “in the interest of justice,” he wrote.
⏱️ Tick, tick, tick
The clock is now ticking on a critical, yet quiet, deadline: Wednesday, March 25 (tomorrow). Under the court’s strict scheduling order, any attorney wishing to skip the trip to the podium must file a formal “Waiver of Oral Argument” at least seven days before the hearing. If Pattakos hasn’t received a green light on his vacation delay by tomorrow, he faces a difficult choice: “blink” and file the waiver—effectively leaving Ashli Ford’s fate entirely to the written briefs—or prepare to cut his family vacation short to appear in person on April 1.
The court’s order was clear: “Waivers will not be accepted after that time.” By setting this firm boundary, the court has effectively boxed the defense into a corner. If tomorrow’s deadline passes without a waiver or a granted delay, the court expects Pattakos to be at the lectern, regardless of his out-of-state travel plans. For a case that Pattakos himself describes as a “monumental First Amendment clash,” skipping the chance to answer the judges’ questions in person would be a significant gamble—one that might speak louder than the arguments themselves.
StayTunedSandusky.com will continue monitoring the court’s docket and will report updates when they happen.
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Sounds like her attorney is as much of a flake as she is. How is a vacay an extraordinary circumstance?