Defense: Prosecutor knew earlier about children in cages

Defense attorneys have filed a motion for acquittal or a new trial.
NORWALK, Ohio (AP) -- The conviction of a husband and wife on charges of keeping some of their 11 special-needs children in cages should be overturned because the prosecutor may have known earlier about the cages, the defense said Wednesday.
Huron County Prosecutor Russell Leffler denied he learned about the cages before late-summer 2005. He described as "crazy" a defense suggestion that he ignored earlier reports of the cages because of political considerations during an election year.
Defense attorneys Ken Myers and Richard Drucker filed the motion for acquittal or new trial on behalf of Michael and Sharen Gravelle. Judge Earl McGimpsey plans a hearing today to hear defense arguments.
The Gravelles, of rural Wakeman, were convicted last month of four felony counts of child endangering, two misdemeanor counts of child endangering and five misdemeanor counts of child abuse. Each was acquitted of 13 charges.
The defense motion said the outcome of the trial might have been different if the defense had seen several documents earlier, including a report from a social worker that Leffler had been informed about "all the allegations" against the Gravelles after a 2003 meeting. Leffler said the claim is not true.
If the matter had been addressed in 2003, the Gravelles might have been able to resolve the issue of the cages before it became a criminal case, the defense said.
What motion said
"This new information, when combined with all of the other issues raised by the defendants, undermines the confidence in the verdict," the defense motion said.
Even if the verdict is upheld and a new trial denied, the judge should allow the defense to question Leffler and others about the handling of any earlier reports regarding the Gravelles, the defense said.
Leffler said the defense motion was irrelevant to the guilt of the Gravelles.