Westlake Law Director Mike Maloney helps prosecutors imprison his own clients, hires his own law firm for city litigation, lied to the Pasela family about the death of their daughter and ignored a sexual relationship between Rocky River school resource officer and Young student

 

Blatant conflict of interest abound, as Westlake Law Director Mike Maloney serves simultaneously as a prosecutor, defense attorney, municipal Law Director and outside counsel to those same cities.  At the same time, Maloney is covering up a sexual relationship between Senior Assistant Ohio Attorney General Dan Kasaris and government witness Kathryn Clover and false statements by disbarred federal prosecutor Mark Bennett about the murder of whistleblower Dawn Pasela, who was found dead under suspicious circumstances as she was set to testify about the Kasaris-Clover affair and other misconduct by prosecutors.  Maloney was also appointed as a “special prosecutor” and determined that sexual contact between a Rocky River student and a resource officer did not violate the law, even though this same officer was later convicted of illegal activities

Westlake Law Director Mike Maloney, pictured above, formerly served as an Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor and the Assistant Law Director in Parma, Ohio.

Law Director Maloney retains Law firm of Mike Maloney, LPA in municipal cases, while Maloney also serves as a prosecutor, and a defense attorney, at the same time.

Michael P. Maloney, paid by cities for legal services, also had those same cities retain his own law firm to work on municipal cases. Federal dockets identify Maloney’s private law firm as representing Parma in Faiken v. City of Parma, No. 1:04-cv-00293, Westlake in Lomax v. City of Westlake, No. 1:25-cv-01792, and Crocker Park v. City of Westlake, No. CV-17-876500

Maloney's overlapping public and private legal roles raise potential conflict-of-interest questions, particularly whether he received additional compensation for representing municipalities or their employees, participated in selecting outside counsel, or handled matters involving his private clients.  Maloney serves simultaneously as a prosecutor, municipal law director, an attorney defending municipalities in civil litigation, a “special prosecutor” and private criminal defense attorney. The extent to which these roles overlapped, and whether appropriate conflict-of-interest safeguards were maintained, has never been examined until now.

 

                                            

Court dockets where Parma or Westlake are named as defendants indicate that each city hired Maloney’s own law firm for legal services, despite each municipality paying Maloney a salary for legal work.

Matt Fairfield – Military Veteran and Maloney Client Imprisoned as Maloney assists Prosecutor Dan Kasaris keeping his affair with Fairfield’s wife quiet

Military veteran Matthew Fairfield discovered that his wife, Kathryn Clover, was secretly meeting with Prosecutor Dan Kasaris at all hours of the day and night, and followed them to a bar in Lakewood, Ohio, where he saw them kissing.  Long suspecting an affair, Fairfield confronted Clover the next day, who admitted she was in love with Kasaris and had engaged in sexual activities with him for months.  But before Fairfield could blow the whistle on Kasaris, he was arrested as a “terrorist” by Kasaris himself, who claimed that Fairfield’s stash of military ordinance and memorabilia actually constituted an imminent threat to the public.  Mike Maloney was assigned to represent Matt in State of Ohio v. Matthew Fairfield, No. CR-10-543012-A, Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Eighth District Court of Appeals # 97466.  Maloney was told about the Kasaris-Clover affair but refused to investigate it, despite the existence of extensive phone and email communications between Kasaris and Clover that could have been obtained through a subpoena.  According to documents at Clover’s sentencing hearing, she testified in three dozen criminal cases and in multiple grand jury proceedings.

Imprisoned, Matt Fairfield wrote attorneys Mark Marein and Michael Goldberg, informing them of the Clover – Kasaris sexual relationship while Clover testified in criminal cases on behalf of the government.  No attorney was willing to investigate these allegations until Tony Viola subpoenaed Matt Fairfield to testify about the Clover-Kasaris sexual relationship.  However, Maloney interrupted the trial as Fairfield was set to testify and, following discussions with Dan Kasaris, announced that Fairfield had decided not to testify.

 

The court docket in Case # CR-10-536877 confirms Mike Maloney stopped the trial to ensure Matt Fairfield did not testify in open court about the Clover-Kasaris affair.

Special Prosecutor Mike Maloney Declined to Criminally Charge a Resource Officer despite intimate contact with a minor; Same Officer Later Convicted of Felonies

The versatile Mike Maloney was appointed as a “special prosecutor,” and recommended against criminal charges involving Rocky River school resource officer Michael Bernhardt's inappropriate relationship with a student. Despite evidence of private meetings, intimate contact, and continued contact after warnings, Maloney claimed there was insufficient grounds for prosecution. A subsequent state investigation uncovered 77 unauthorized police database searches involving students and others. Bernhardt was indicted in March 2025 and pleaded guilty to three felonies in November. Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley called the privacy violations "outrageous." Bernhardt received a six-month prison sentence in December 2025, raising serious questions about prosecutorial discretion, investigative completeness, and the standards used when reviewing allegations concerning police officers. And contrary to Maloney’s findings, Rocky River Police Chief George Lichman told Cleveland 19 News: "The conduct of this former police officer is not acceptable to any Rocky River police officer.”

The Judy Nagy Case – Failing to Obtain Evidence from an Accountant to Establish a Client’s Actual Innocence

Mike Maloney’s unwillingness to challenge prosecutors or obtain exonerating evidence is not limited to the Matt Fairfield case, but in other criminal matters as well.  Kindly consider the case of Judy Nagy, who Maloney coerced into pleading guilty without properly investigating charges of fraud, or obtaining key documents from an accountant that wholly undermined the prosecutor’s allegations.

According to court filings in Judy Nagy’s case, Defense attorney Maloney failed to obtain accounting records that established actual innocence.

Maloney Assists Disbarred Federal Prosecutor Mark Bennett Cover Up his Involvement in the Murder of Dawn Pasela

Fired federal prosecutor Mark Bennett's disciplinary misconduct is documented in Disciplinary Counsel v. Bennett, 2023-Ohio-4752 and in DOJ Inspector General Report 21-055.  During these disciplinary and disbarment proceedings, Bennett sought to stop negative publicity and sought to use the Westlake Police to prosecute Justice for Dawn advocates.  However, in a series of written communications to the Westlake police, Bennett and his wife made numerous material written misrepresentations, including

  • False denial of involvement with Dawn Pasela: Mark Bennett allegedly told Westlake police he had "no involvement" with Pasela, despite earlier written statements acknowledging that he worked with her and knew about recordings she made of Viola's defense preparations.
  • Disputes concerning Bennett's departure from the Justice Department: Bennett allegedly sought police action against Viola for publicly stating Bennett had been fired, even though Bennett’s own attorneys said he was fired in court filings in his disbarment proceedings.
  • Mark Bennet’s wife Rebecca also falsely denied that her husband participated in Viola's subsequent trial despite trial transcripts proving the opposite, and falsely wrote that Viola controlled material published by independent websites including Uncovered.com.

Maloney admitted that he supports prosecutors in all circumstances, telling Cleveland Magazine that criminal prosecutions are his favorite aspect of the job.  According to Maloney, "My responsibilities with law enforcement are by far the favorite part of my job,” see “An inside Look at Westlake's City Departments” by Christine Schaffran, March 7, 2025

Maloney demanded a Secret Meeting with Ed and Karen Pasela

Following demands by the Justice for Dawn team that Mike Maloney report what he knew about the Kasaris-Clover affair and Mark Bennett‘s false statements about Dawn, Maloney grew alarmed. He demanded secret meetings with the FreeTonyViola private investigative team and further demanded that Dawn Pasela’s parents, Ed and Karen, come to his office “alone” so that he could relay important information. In multiple conversations, Maloney issued a series of subtle threats, including “I hate to see you get indicted“ and “whoever is paying for this advocacy is going to be in serious trouble.“

Attorney Kim Corral has repeatedly advised that public advocacy, public records request, and petitioning the government for redress is legal, and all of the statements being made on our behalf are truthful and accurate. Despite several requests, Maloney has never identified any false statement on the Justice for Dawn or FreeTonyViola websites.

Karen Pasela provided the following statement:

“Mike Maloney has repeatedly lied to us. We asked him to report Mark Bennett’s false statements to the proper authorities so that a full investigation can be launched into exactly what Mr. Bennett knows about our daughter‘s death, but he refused. We also believe that had Mr. Maloney reported the sexual relationship between Kasaris and Kathryn Clover, our daughter would be alive today. There would have been no Viola criminal trials, or Dawn being forced to wear a wire and pretend to be a paralegal to record his defense trial strategy. Finally, the fact that Maloney was in Parma City Hall when Dawn died further establishes that he knows a lot more about what happened to our daughter than he’s saying.”

Ed Pasela added “all we want is the truth about what happened to our daughter. We will continue to fight for a proper investigation into the events that led up to her death and demand accountability for anyone responsible.”

Mike Maloney’s hand written notes, obtained Exclusively by the FreeTonyViola.com Investigative Team, confirm that the Pasela family told Maloney that Dawn Pasela would be alive today had he allowed Matt Fairfield to testify at Tony Viola’s second trial.

Further notes in Maloney’s own handwriting indicate his knowledge of Prosecutors Kasaris and Bennett threatening Dawn right before her death

Federal Civil Rights Lawsuits Involving Westlake Law Director Michael Maloney

In McKissack v. Jasinsky, No. 1:23-cv-00984 (N.D. Ohio), Maloney was personally sued over allegations of racial profiling, excessive force, false police reporting, and malicious prosecution following a traffic stop. In Lomax v. City of Westlake, No. 1:25-cv-01792 (N.D. Ohio), Maloney represented Westlake and police personnel accused of unlawful detention, unconstitutional searches, and inadequate supervision. Both lawsuits alleged civil-rights violations involving Westlake police; Maloney was a defendant in McKissack and defense counsel in Lomax.

Maloney is in Violation of the Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct with his double dealing and Failure to Report serious wrongdoing by Mark Bennett and Dan Kasaris

Under Ohio Rule of Professional Conduct 8.3(a), attorneys possessing unprivileged knowledge of another lawyer’s misconduct that raises questions about honesty, trustworthiness, or professional fitness must report it to the appropriate disciplinary authority. And pursuant to Ohio Rule 1.13(b), municipal attorneys must take appropriate action, including reporting misconduct to higher municipal authorities when necessary, if they know or reasonably should know that an official’s unlawful conduct could substantially harm the municipality.

Ongoing Investigation Continues

Our investigation into the actions of Law Director Maloney are ongoing, and tips and suggestions are welcome and appreciated.  We will publish a follow up article in the future.

About FreeTonyViola.com:  FreeTonyViola.com is a justice-accountability platform dedicated to exposing prosecutorial misconduct and holding public officials responsible for actions that lead to wrongful convictions.  FreeTonyViola.com exists for one reason: to expose prosecutorial misconduct and demand accountability when abuse of power results in wrongful convictions.  Wrongful convictions are rarely the result of honest mistakes or momentary lapses in judgment. They are far more often caused by “win-at-all-costs” prosecution, refusal to acknowledge error, and the deliberate locking-in of narratives that prosecutors will not revisit—even when evidence contradicts their case.  This platform documents those failures, preserves the evidence, and makes it public. Our focus is not rehabilitation services or re-entry assistance. Our focus is accountability — especially when prosecutors break the law, abuse their authority, or knowingly pursue convictions that cannot withstand scrutiny.

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