43
Judge wants to prevent influences on jury pool
Photo
Defense lawyers in the Oakhill case huddle Thursday in court before joining prosecutors in a 90-minute meeting in chambers with Visiting Judge William H. Wolff Jr. of Kettering.
Photo
John B. Reardon, former Mahoning County treasurer, left, and county Commissioner John A. McNally IV talk in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court before the initial pretrial conference in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal conspiracy case, in which both are defendants.
Yavorcik/F. Cafaro Bill of Particulars
Document
The of Ohio vs. Martin Yavorcik and Flora Cafaro.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
milliken@vindy.com
YOUNGSTOWN
All major pretrial document filings in the criminal conspiracy case concerning Oakhill
Renaissance Place will be sealed from public view from now on.
That was the order Thursday from Visiting Judge William H. Wolff Jr. of Kettering, who will preside over the case, for which he set the trial to begin June 6, 2011.
Among the documents to be sealed are the bills of particulars for the eight defendants accused of conspiring to prevent or delay the move of the Mahoning County Department of Job and Family Services from Cafaro Co.-owned rented quarters to Oakhill.
Oakhill is the former Forum Health Southside Medical Center, which the county bought in 2006. JFS moved there the following year.
Judge Wolff said the bills, in which the prosecution will provide details to the defense concerning the criminal charges, will be sealed to avoid having publicity concerning them influence potential trial jurors.
“They’ll be filed under seal, and the court then will determine what is filed and if anything needs to remain under seal,” the judge added.
“This is done for the purpose of accommodating the defendants’ rights to a fair trial, and the right of the public through the media to know what’s going on,” Judge Wolff explained.
The judge said he expects the bills to be filed within two to three weeks.
“All filings in this case shall be under seal, with the exception of filings that are clearly procedural and cannot possibly implicate defendants’ concern about receiving a fair trial,” the judge wrote in a judgment entry filed Thursday.
The court docket includes the judge’s written order, but the docket doesn’t contain any reference to any written defense or prosecution motions calling for future Oakhill case documents to be filed under seal.
The prosecution is to provide the defense with its evidence, in a process called discovery, on or before Sept. 23, the judge ordered. Except for disclosure of its expert witnesses, the defense then will have 90 days to provide its evidence to the prosecution in what is called reciprocal discovery, he added.
The defense can expect to receive about 50,000 pages of evidence from the prosecution, Special Prosecutor Paul M. Nick has said.
All pretrial motions must be filed on or before Jan. 3, Judge Wolff ruled.
The eight defendants charged with conspiracy and other charges are Anthony M. Cafaro Sr., retired president of the Cafaro Co.; the Cafaro Co. and two of its affiliates, the Ohio Valley Mall Co. and the Marion Plaza Inc.; county Commissioner John A. McNally IV; county Auditor Michael V. Sciortino; former county Treasurer John B. Reardon; and John Zachariah, former JFS director.
A bill of particulars already has been filed publicly concerning two other defendants in the case who are not charged with conspiracy.
They are Flora Cafaro, part owner of the Cafaro Co., and Atty. Martin Yavorcik, who are charged with money laundering in connection with an allegedly concealed $15,000 gift she gave to Yavorcik’s unsuccessful 2008 campaign for county prosecutor. Flora Cafaro is Anthony Cafaro’s sister.
Judge Wolff estimated the trial would last two to three months, and he said the Oakhill matter is the most complex case he has presided over.
“As one of my friends on the court of appeals would say, ‘Bill, what have you gotten yourself into this time?’” the judge said, drawing laughter from court personnel.
Judge Wolff, 68, retired last year after 24 years as an Ohio appellate judge and eight previous years as a Montgomery County Common Pleas judge. Before that, he was a Dayton municipal judge for 18 months.
The judge made his remarks and issued his written order after a 90-minute conference in chambers with three special prosecutors and about a dozen defense lawyers. It was the initial pretrial conference in the case, which stems from a 73-count, 41-page grand-jury indictment.
Many of the defense lawyers in attendance have Youngstown-area offices, but other defense lawyers came from Cleveland, Pittsburgh and as far away as Boston and New York City.
The three special prosecutors in attendance were Nick, who is chief investigative counsel for the Columbus-based Ohio Ethics Commission, and Anthony D. Cillo and David P. Muhek, both assistant Lorain County prosecutors.
Reardon and McNally were the only defendants to appear in the courtroom. McNally left to attend a county commissioners’ meeting but returned to court after it was over.
Zachariah, of Chagrin Falls, showed up before the 9 a.m. scheduled start time, but the judge granted his request to be excused, and he left. The judge earlier had excused the Cafaros and Yavorcik from personal attendance.
Reardon signed a waiver of speedy trial, and lawyers for the other defendants did the same on behalf of their clients. Without the waiver, the state would be required to bring the defendants to trial within 270 days after they were booked at the county jail.
All defendants are free on personal-recognizance bonds, and none has been in jail.
Nick and Reardon’s lawyer, Louis DeFabio, declined to comment after court.