Cincinnati Business Courier reports:

Hamilton County Municipal Court Judge Josh Berkowitz said when he arrived at work this morning around 8 a.m. it appeared that a fire drill was being conducted. As the morning progressed, pedestrians and courthouse employees were asked to move further from the building and it became clear that there was a serious situation. No one was allowed to enter the building or park near it.

Berkowitz estimated the closure could affect about 1,000 cases that were on Tuesday's docket including a jury trial that was in progress.

"It's a pretty significant disruption," he told me. "But obviously we need people to feel safe when they go to court. Safety is the top priority here. We cannot be more grateful for the work of the courthouse security taking this matter seriously and making sure everyone is safe."

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Cincinnati.com reports witness, Anthony Nelson's brother was killed the day Nelson took the stand:  

"It was chilling," said Josh Berkowitz, a Municipal Court judge who at the time was the prosecutor handling the McIntosh case. "I think it was a wake-up call to all of us, the immediacy of the violence, the fact that it happened right in the middle of a trial."

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Cincinnati.com reports:

Josh Berkowitz, an assistant Hamilton County prosecutor, was named Friday as the county's newest Municipal Court judge.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich made the appointment. Berkowitz takes a seat, that presides over misdemeanor criminal and smaller civil cases, vacated when Judge Megan Shanahan was promoted last month to a Common Pleas judgeship that hear felony criminal and larger civil cases.

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