Visiting judge: Oakhill documents can remain sealed

YOUNGSTOWN — A visiting judge has told the Ohio Supreme Court in Columbus he has the legal authority to keep bills of particulars that provide details of the charges against the defendants in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal conspiracy case sealed from public view.

“Respondent possesses the authority to exercise judicial power in the manner that it has done,” Judge William H. Wolff Jr. of Kettering said of his court in a filing at the top court.

The judge added that his actions “are lawful and appropriate,” but he did not explain his reasoning for his actions in the filing before the high court.

Through his lawyer, Carley J. Ingram, of the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office, Judge Wolff was responding to a complaint by The Vindicator and 21WFMJ TV, which are seeking a writ of prohibition to bar him from keeping pre-trial documents sealed or closing any court hearings.

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