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Judge rules against change of venue in Seman case, for now
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Judge Maureen Sweeney ruled Tuesday against a motion by defense attorneys to move the capital murder trial of Robert Seman out of Mahoning County because of intense publicity.
The judge did say she may revisit her ruling should there be difficulty in choosing jurors in common pleas court, which starts in earnest today. Jurors reported for orientation Friday.
Seman, 47, of Green Township, could face the death penalty if convicted of the deaths of Corinne Gump, 10, and her grandparents, William and Judith Schmidt, after an arson March 30, 2015, at their Powers Way home the day Seman was to go on trial on charges of raping the girl.
Seman was free on bond at the time of the fire.
Defense attorneys filed motions weeks ago to have the case moved out of Mahoning County because of media coverage, and they supplemented those motions over the weekend with incidents they say took place during the jury orientation Friday.
During a short hearing Monday, Lynn Maro, one of Seman’s attorneys, said that several potential jurors Friday were glaring at Seman and some were crying. She also said a corrections officer at the county jail who was called for jury duty reported to the court in his uniform, and said he knows Seman because he works in the area of the jail where Seman is lodged.
Maro said those factors taken together will poison other people in the jury pool against Seman.
“They have subtle impacts,” Maro said. “All of that impacts every juror in the room. Those influences really do taint the jury pool.”
Out of 30 jury questionnaires that were taken as a sample of the pool, Maro said 50 percent of those jurors already had formed an opinion of the case.
Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa said that just because someone has an opinion does not mean they cannot be a juror if they can set that aside and follow the law. Cantalamessa said she wanted to question the jurors individually, saying that Seman is accused of committing his crimes in Mahoning County and he should be tried here because of that.
Judge Sweeney said in a ruling shortly after the hearing that the state Supreme Court expects a good faith effort to be made to seat a jury before moving a trial. She also said all jurors were required to swear an oath before they reported to her courtroom that they would follow the law and put any preconceived decisions aside.
Seman is eligible for the death penalty if convicted of aggravated murder because prosecutors charged he killed the witness to a crime; killed a person younger than 13; killed two or more people; and killed someone in the commission of another felony, which in this case means aggravated arson or aggravated burglary. If jurors find Seman is eligible for the death penalty, a second phase of the trial, or mitigation phase, will take place at which defense attorneys will present evidence to jurors showing them why they should spare Seman’s life.