Cleveland judge takes Yavorcik attorney to task for filing

CLEVELAND

The judge overseeing the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal conspiracy case rejected a motion from the attorney for Martin Yavorcik, one of the three defendants, to dismiss the case over speedy-trial issues, and took Yavorcik’s lawyer to task for the filing.

In a journal entry, Judge Janet R. Burnside of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court wrote that the request from Jennifer J. Scott, Yavorcik’s attorney, “does not provide the critical information upon which any speedy trial can be calculated.”

One example, the judge wrote, was “time does not run from the date of indictment,” which Scott’s motion does, but “time starts to run under Ohio law once there are charges filed against the defendant and the defendant is in custody for those charges. No information as to when [if ever] defendant Yavorcik was in custody for the charges are given.”

The judge added: “Yavorcik is in default of this court’s order to present a valid time calculation starting with his prior prosecution. Defendant’s filing was to be a simple valid time calculation so that the defendant’s position on this issue could be compared with the state’s position.”

Read the complete story in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.