Oakhill witness list will be made public by Friday

CLEVELAND ­— Prosecutors in the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-corruption case will provide a witness list by Friday, and will turn over all of its evidence to defendants by July 1.

That information was included in a journal entry from Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Janet R. Burnside, who is overseeing the case.

The deadlines were determined at a Friday pretrial hearing in Cleveland.

At that hearing, the two sides agreed to a protocol permitting defense witnesses to hear secret recordings, made by two confidential informants, and other material labeled by prosecutors as “counsel only.” That’s a legal term meaning defense attorneys can’t share it.

Attorneys for the defendants – Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally, ex-Mahoning County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino and attorney Martin Yavorcik – had objected to the labeling saying they couldn’t properly prepare their case if their witnesses couldn’t listen to recordings made by confidential sources.

McNally, in his capacity as a Mahoning County commissioner, as well as Sciortino and Yavorcik were indicted May 14, 2014, on 83 total criminal counts, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, bribery, conspiracy, perjury and money laundering. The three have pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, Tuesday is Sciortino’s first pretrial hearing on 25 felonies accusing him of illegally using government-owned computers and software for his political campaigns and for his private law practice. Sciortino was indicted June 4 on 21 counts of unauthorized use of property – computer or telecommunication property – and four counts of theft in office. He plead not guilty last week.

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