Cuyahoga judge grants defense attorneys extension in Oakhill case

CLEVELAND

The judge overseeing the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-corruption case agreed to give attorneys for the defendants an additional month to file motions to challenge the trial location in Cuyahoga County.

The original deadline for a change-of-venue challenge was March 2.

But Lynn A. Maro and John B. Juhasz — who represent Youngstown Mayor John A. McNally and ex-Mahoning County Auditor Michael V. Sciortino, respectively — asked for an extension March 1 because they are defense attorneys in a federal trial in Cleveland that is taking up their time.

In that March 1 motion, Maro and Juhasz asked for the deadline to be moved to April 3.

Prosecutors didn’t object to the request a few days later.

Judge Janet R. Burnside of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court filed a one-sentence journal entry Tuesday granting the request.

A pretrial hearing in the case is set for March 20. Attorneys on both sides are permitted to participate in those hearings by phone. The judge didn’t address the possibility of postponing the hearing in her latest journal entry.

Read more about the latest in the case in Thursday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.