INMATE ABUSE CASE Budd's attorneys have month to get set for retrial

Lawyers have more time to file motions, including one seeking a new trial on a guilty count.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Lawyers for Mahoning County deputy sheriff Michael Budd wanted a week to prepare for a second inmate-abuse trial, but a federal judge gave them a month.
Budd's second trial in Cleveland federal court will begin April 5 with jury selection. He is being retried on three charges on which the jury could not reach a verdict in his four-count indictment.
After being found guilty of obstruction Tuesday, Budd was told by Sheriff Randall A. Wellington to resign or face disciplinary action. Budd, 44, of Boardman, had held the rank of major until indicted five months ago.
A jury found him guilty of covering up his link to the beating of an inmate, which was one prong of the two-prong first count. Jurors offered no verdict on the second prong of the count, which alleged conspiracy to deprive the inmate of his right to be free from excessive force. Jurors also deadlocked on the remaining three counts that allege he ordered the beating of one inmate and personally beat two other inmates.
U.S. District Judge Lesley Brooks Wells had intended to impanel a new jury today for the remaining three counts. Instead, she granted a motion filed by Youngstown attorney Martin E. Yavorcik and Poland attorney Sebastian Rucci to reschedule the trial.
Budd's lawyers wanted an extra week to gear up for the second trial, but Judge Wells, because of her own court schedule, gave them a month, until April 4. The government, based on a medical matter, then asked that the trial begin April 5, and the request was unopposed by Budd's lawyers.
Rucci said Wednesday that the government would "like to work something out" -- a plea agreement -- to avoid a second trial. He declined to elaborate.
William Edwards, first assistant U.S. attorney in Cleveland, said he could not comment about a possible plea offer.
The case was prosecuted by Steven M. Dettelbach, an assistant U.S. attorney, and Kristy Parker, a U.S. Department of Justice civil rights division trial attorney based in Washington.
The trial began Feb. 14 and concluded evidence Feb. 17. Trial was suspended Feb. 18 and 21. Closing arguments were heard Feb. 22 and jury deliberations began that afternoon. The partial verdict came Tuesday morning.
In their request for more time to prepare for a second trial on three counts, Yavorcik and Rucci said they have motions to file, including one that will ask for a new trial on the guilty count. The lawyers said they also need to prepare for four new prosecution witnesses who pleaded guilty to their part in an inmate beating while Budd's first trial was in progress.
Yavorcik and Rucci said they need time to obtain a transcript of the first trial. They intend to use it as a tool to impeach the testimony of witnesses who will testify again.
The government opposed the defense motion to delay the second trial, saying it was a good idea to begin it today to "bring finality to a matter that is fresh in the parties' minds."
Dettelbach and Parker said this is a retrial and the parties are familiar with the evidence in the case, the legal issues presented and the tactical decisions that await.
"Now, after seeing the entirety of the government's presentation in this case, the defense is in an even better position to present its case than it was for the first trial in this matter," the prosecutors said in their motion opposing a delay. "This case is not complicated. It relates to three inmates who were either beaten by [Budd] or at his request."