Lawyers say prosecutors wrongly gave Vindicator Oakhill transcripts

CLEVELAND

The attorneys for two defendants in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal corruption case filed a court motion accusing prosecutors of improperly providing The Vindicator with transcripts of secretly-taped conversations that the lawyers can’t share with their clients.

In a court filing, the attorneys for Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally and Mahoning County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino wrote the state has marked a lot of evidence as “counsel only,” meaning it can’t be shared with anyone and then filing a document Friday that included transcripts of secret recording that have that designation.

The attorneys — Lynn Maro for McNally and John B. Juhasz for Sciortino — also wrote that the information was given to the newspaper before it was on the public docket.

But the filing was in the possession of the Cuyahoga County Clerk of Court’s office before being given to the media — just not on the clerk’s website, said Dan Tierney, spokesman for the Ohio attorney general’s office, which is prosecuting the case with the Cuyahoga County prosecutor.

He also said today that none of the information provided Friday to the newspaper is labeled “counsel only.”

The AG’s office didn’t improperly provide the court document to The Vindicator or other news organizations, Tierney said.

Maro and Juhasz also wrote that the government is abusing the “counsel only” provision thus not allowing the attorneys to properly build a defense. Tierney disputed that.

Mark Lavelle, attorney for Martin Yavorcik, the other defendant in this case, filed a motion last week asking a judge to permit him to share all evidence — including those with the “counsel only” label — with whoever he wants.

Prosecutors charged Yavorcik, Sciortino and Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally in his previous capacity as a county commissioner with 83 counts including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, conspiracy, bribery, perjury, money laundering and tampering with evidence.

The three have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

They are accused of being part of a group that conspired to illegally impede or stop the move of the Mahoning County Department of Job and Family Services from the Cafaro-Co.-owned Garland Plaza to Oakhill, the former Forum Health South Side Center.

For the complete story, read Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com