The decision follows an Aug. 11 hearing where Foley’s attorneys questioned whether information that ex-Clerk of Courts Human Resources Director Tyler Starline provided to Ohio Auditor of State investigators in 2022 — an interview that was followed by a raid of the clerk’s office — was privileged.
Foley’s attorneys have argued that without this information, the Ohio Auditor of State would have no probable cause for its search warrant of the clerk’s office.
On the other side, Ohio Auditor of State attorneys have argued that Starline’s interviews with state investigators did not include privileged information and that Starline did not serve as Foley’s attorney in official capacities.
Starline joined the Montgomery County Clerk of Courts office as a special project manager several years ago, advancing to other titles in the office, such as auto title investigator, legal compliance officer and eventually the director of human resources, before he was terminated from his job in 2022. He has had a law license for more than two decades.
Hein in his decision wrote that Starline may have referred to himself as the “in house” counsel for the clerk’s office at points during his tenure there, but a “reasonably believed” attorney-client relationship did not exist.
“Admittedly, there were circumstances where Starline applied his legal training and provided guidance to Defendant on legal matters affecting the functions of the Clerk of Courts,” Hein wrote. “However, hiring an employee for government services does not automatically result in forming an attorney-client relationship with that employee for all other purposes, including political campaign activities.”
Foley’s trial is scheduled for December. Some of the 12 counts Foley faces are linked to alleged time theft of former employee Elle Sollenberger for the time she allegedly spent working on his campaign, soliciting political contributions and working on his private business, the Dayton Daily News previously reported.
Starline — also a former Huber Heights city councilmember — has alleged that while working at the clerk’s office, he “observed (Foley’s) administrative assistant, who is also his campaign treasurer … doing campaign finance documents on the County computers where she was filling out his campaign finance report, asking him questions, he was answering from his corner office,” according to court records.
Starline also told state investigators he saw campaign flyers printed on the office copier in a common area of the office. Hein wrote that there was no reasonable expectation of privacy for conversations overheard or observations made in shared workspaces.
Foley was indicted last year alongside former Montgomery County Municipal Court Judge James Piergies, who has since been convicted on charges related to his son’s employment.
Foley in June changed his plea to no contest as part of a plea bargain, but this jeopardized his eligibility to stay in elected office. Hein accepted a plea withdrawal and reversed Foley’s conviction last month, putting the elected officials back on the path toward a trial.
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