Tia Hilton nixes request for protection order against Lorain Council candidate Aaron Knapp

ELYRIA — A hearing on an Amherst Township woman's request for a civil stalking protection order against a Lorain City Council candidate ended Friday nearly as quickly as it began. When Lorain County Common Pleas Magistrate Laura Dezort would not grant him a continuance, attorney Gerald Phillips asked her to dismiss his client Tia Hilton's request for the order. He asked Dezort to do so without prejudice, which means Hilton has the right to make her request again at another time. Dezort lifted the temporary protection order. She said Hilton has the right to refile her request, and the burden remains on Hilton to prove that she needs a protection order. A hearing on a civil stalking protection order is supposed to be held within 10 days of the temporary order being granted, Dezort said, and she said a further delay the process was inappropriate. "The court is not going to keep this open indefinitely," Dezort said. Phillips said his request for a delay was because the Lorain County Sheriff's Office is investigating alleged criminal activity related to the case, and "pending existing criminal investigations that may be filed very shortly." He didn't say what those were or who was being charged. Phillips made his decision after Dezort told him there would be no more delays in the hearing date and that it would go forward Friday as long as he was prepared. The hearing already was rescheduled once because Knapp had a medical appointment, Dezort said. Hilton told a Chronicle-Telegram reporter she planned to file a new protection order request before the end of the day Friday. She did not respond to a text message Friday afternoon asking if she had done so. In an email Friday, Knapp called the hearing a "waste of time and resources of the government." Hilton, 39, alleged that Knapp, 51, threatened to kill her. She has said she is in fear for her life and that of her husband and son. A temporary protection order that forbid Knapp from coming within 500 feet of Hilton, her husband and son has been in place since April 15. During Friday's hearing, Dezort overruled Knapp's request to immediately dismiss the entire matter because a supposed witness to the alleged death threat hadn't shown up to court. Phillips subpoenaed Sheriff Jack Hall and Prosecutor Tony Cillo both to testify at Friday's hearing, though neither man took the stand before the magistrate dismissed the matter. Knapp, a licensed social worker and Republican candidate for Lorain City Council's Ward 6 seat in November who is a vocal critic of Lorain city officials and Lorain County officials, represented himself at the hearing. He told Dezort he was fine to proceed without an attorney despite not knowing Hilton had brought Phillips, a veteran attorney, to represent her. Knapp argued that Jon Paul Morrow, a Republican activist and candidate for Sheffield Lake City Council who allegedly heard Knapp threaten Hilton's life, hadn't been called to testify. That was enough for Dezort to dismiss Hilton's case, he argued. "It's not my fault they're not prepared," Knapp said of his opponents at one point, also arguing that his due process rights were being infringed. Dezort also denied Knapp's request to change venues after he unsuccessfully argued the matter should be assigned to another judge, magistrate or courtroom. She further warned all sides there would be no argument, no debate and no grandstanding in the courtroom. Only questions and answers, in an orderly fashion with one person speaking at a time, Dezort said. Knapp has not been charged with any crimes. No criminal complaints or cases under his name were found in Lorain, Oberlin, Elyria, Avon Lake or Vermilion municipal court records on Friday. Knapp provided documents to Phillips and the court, some of which Phillips took exception to because they dealt with Lorain politics, not the matter at hand. "The city of Lorain has nothing to do with the interactions between Mr. Knapp and Ms. Hilton," Phillips said. Phillips also rejected Knapp's argument that his due process rights were being infringed, saying Knapp hadn't suffered any harm. Knapp has made headlines before, most recently after he was involved in a physical altercation April 5 at the MAHD House Bar in Elyria Township.He also got a $2,500 settlement from Lorain County following a more-than one-year fight over video recordings of an incident involving him and county employees at the Lorain County Justice Center in November 2023. Knapp said most of what he was paid in the settlement ended up going to legal fees.Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.