Cuyahoga judge moved Oakhill trial to Feb. 29
CLEVELAND
The judge overseeing the Oakhill Renaissance Place criminal-corruption trial said she hasn’t yet ruled on a proposed reduction in the number of counts facing the three defendants to give their attorneys time to respond.
Judge Janet R. Burnside of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court said after a Friday pretrial in Cleveland that she wanted to give defense attorneys 7 to 10 days to respond to the prosecutors’ motion to amend the indictment before she makes a ruling.
“It wouldn’t be right for me to make a decision,” she said Friday. “It was only filed [Thursday]. I don’t think it will be a big issue. We want to get the case streamlined – eliminating language and some counts.”
After the defense files a response, Judge Burnside said she’ll rule “pretty quickly.”
At Friday’s hearing, Judge Burnside moved the start of the trial to Feb. 29 from March 1. March 1 is a Tuesday, and “there’s no reason to start on Tuesday,” she said.
“The trial will start on time,” Judge Burnside said.
The trial will last several weeks, she said, and will be scheduled for Mondays to Thursdays, starting at 8:45 a.m. and ending at 5 p.m.
Prosecutors filed an amended indictment Thursday to reduce the number of counts from 73 to 45.
Read more about the case and the hearing in Saturday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.