Contempt hearing canceled

LISBON — Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge C. Ashley Pike on Tuesday canceled a hearing to consider two contempt findings against a Warren lawyer.

Atty. George Kafantaris late last week filed an appeal with the Seventh District Court of Appeals, and the hearing was scheduled for Friday morning.

Judge Pike found Kafantaris in contempt while he was defending Andrew Irwin, 25, of East Liverpool, earlier this year on a charge of murder.

A jury convicted Irwin for the 2006 stabbing death of Emily Foreman, 21, at her home in Liverpool Township. Judge Pike gave Irwin a sentence of 15 years to life.

The judge found Kafantaris in contempt during the trial and during a later hearing on whether to have a new trial. In the new ruling, Judge Pike wrote that the appeal divested him of jurisdiction.

But Judge Pike also wrote that, “there has been no order in this case decreeing an actual sanction, thus there appears to be an issue with regard to any ‘final appealable order.’” That specific term refers to the decisions at the end of a case that can be appealed.

The lawyer was first found in contempt for indicating, as the jury returned with its verdict, that he had new information that showed someone else was the killer. Judge Pike later overruled that claim and found the lawyer in contempt for the second time for his conduct during hearings into the claims.

Kafantaris later claimed a second time he had found more evidence. Judge Pike dismissed that claim as well. Prosecutor Robert Herron could not be reached. Assistant Prosecutor John Gamble said he could not comment.