Judge: More information must be given to defense lawyers

Not all information was given to defense lawyers in a Wellsville murder case.

STAFF REPORT

LISBON — A judge’s new order may calm the uproar from local law enforcement over open disclosure.

Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court on Friday said he “had not adopted any open-discovery rule in any manner” but had wanted more information given to defense lawyers to ensure their client gets a fair trial.

Judge Pike’s new opinion said the idea was that the prosecutor’s office and police would provide information that is “readily available” in their current records to defense lawyers in an upcoming criminal trial involving a Wellsville man charged with murder.

Discovery is a routine part of court cases that in criminal cases includes notifying the defense of evidence or witnesses. Some courts in Ohio are debating a more open discovery to allow more information to be given to defense lawyers.

Judge Pike ruled earlier this year in only two cases that law enforcement officials must turn over more information after those officials failed to turn over evidence to the prosecutor’s office, which would then normally give it to the defense.

One case involved statements made by a defendant that Wellsville police did not mention in a timely fashion to the prosecutor’s office. The statements came to light before the murder trial of Eric Dillard of Wellsville. He is charged in the shooting death of a business associate who apparently was not armed.

The judge still wants complete statements given to the defense for that case, but county Prosecutor Robert Herron feared that a more open discovery would require police to do more work on background checks on potential witnesses in the case, a costly and time-consuming process.

Local law enforcement officials also said giving out more information could make potential witnesses more reluctant to come forward to testify in criminal cases.

Herron could not be reached to comment on the judge’s latest ruling.

James Hartford, a lawyer for Dillard, said the open-discovery flap was “much ado about nothing.”

The other case ruled on by Judge Pike involved a policeman who produced a videotape of a defendant in midtrial that prosecutors did not know existed.

The judge had instructed more information be given to the defense, but the case ended when the defendant pleaded guilty to a lesser offense.