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Public defender appointed in death penalty case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Will the third time be the charm for Lance Hundley in his capital-murder case?
After firing two sets of court-appointed attorneys and winning the right to represent himself in his death-penalty murder trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, Hundley, 47, of Warren, changed his mind and agreed to have an attorney from the Ohio Public Defender’s office represent him.
This is the third change-up in his legal defense team since he was arrested in the aggravated murder of Erika Huff.
Judge Maureen Sweeney approved the request Wednesday to have Greg Myers from the public defender’s office take on the case. The other attorney will be Doug Taylor.
Taylor was representing Hundley with Atty. John Juhasz when Hundley said he wanted to fire them and represent himself. Juhasz is now no longer part of the defense team.
Judge Sweeney also set a new trial date with jury orientation set for April 27. She told Hundley he must work with his lawyers. He looked flabbergasted when Judge Sweeney suggested that he has not always been cooperative.
“I always cooperate with my attorneys, your Honor,” Hundley told her.
Hundley is charged with aggravated murder in the Nov. 5, 2016, beating death of Huff in her Cleveland Street home, and he faces additional charges of attempted murder for badly beating Huff’s mother and aggravated arson for setting the house on fire.
Police responding to a medical alarm call found Hundley inside while the house was on fire but he refused to come out. They had to go in and get him and discovered Huff and her mother inside.
Hundley had fired Juhasz and Taylor twice and changed his mind before deciding he wanted to represent himself. He also fired a first set of attorneys appointed after he was indicted, which led to the appointments of Juhasz and Taylor.