Vindicator, 21 WFMJ TV fight to review some Oakhill documents

YOUNGSTOWN — The Vindicator and 21 WFMJ-TV have filed a motion to cancel a visiting judge’s orders that all nonroutine documents in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal conspiracy case be kept from public and press scrutiny.

The motion, filed today in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, asks Judge William H. Wolff Jr. to permit public access to bills of particulars detailing the charges against the defendants and to a motion to dismiss the indictment and memorandum in support of it.

Items filed under seal are not available for public view.

To avoid pre-trial publicity that he said might bias potential trial jurors, Judge Wolff ordered in September that all nonroutine filings in the case be made under seal.

The judge said he would then screen them and rule on any objections to disclosure from the parties to the case before making public all or parts of the filings. The trial is set to begin June 6, 2011.

“The seal order is inconsistent with settled Ohio law and the applicable First Amendment and common law presumptions of public access,” wrote Attys. Marion H. Little Jr. and Christopher J. Hogan of Columbus on behalf of the Vindicator and WFMJ.

For the complete story, read Fridays' Vindicator and Vindy.com