Court hearing is Monday on secrecy of records in dismissed Oakhill case

By PETER H. MILLIKEN

milliken@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

A hearing will begin at 9 a.m. Monday on whether records in the now dismissed Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-conspiracy case should be sealed from public view.

The hearing will be before visiting Judge William H. Wolff Jr. of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Lawyers for the former defendants, Anthony M. Cafaro Sr., former president of the Cafaro Co.; the Cafaro Co. and two of its affiliates; Flora Cafaro, part-owner of the Cafaro Co.; and John Zachariah, former county Job and Family Services director, are seeking the sealing to protect what they said are their privacy rights now that the case has been dismissed.

“The undisputed governmental interest in providing public access to criminal proceedings and records would be completely thwarted by an order permanently sealing court records,” Marion H. Little Jr., lawyer for The Vindicator and 21WFMJ-TV, which oppose the sealing, argued in a court filing.

The special prosecutors have objected to sealing the case records because they said sealing hampers the public’s understanding of the case and right of access to it.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.