Hundley fires attorneys again, then decides to represent himself

YOUNGSTOWN

It appears the only thing to count on when Lance Hundley appears in court is to not count on anything at all.

For the second time in a month, Hundley, 47, who is facing the death penalty if convicted of the Nov. 5, 2016, beating death of Erika Huff in her Cleveland Street home, fired his court-appointed attorneys in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Unlike his last pretrial hearing, however, when he fired John Juhasz and Doug Taylor, then asked to meet with Judge Maureen Sweeney and had them reappointed, he did not do that Wednesday.

Instead, Hundley got Judge Sweeney to agree to appoint him an attorney from out of the area – something she refused to do in the past.

But after court adjourned, Hundley reconsidered that request, however, and said he wanted to represent himself, which keeps jury orientation in the case on track for Friday.

Besides aggravated-murder charges with death-penalty specifications for Huff’s death, he also faces charges for the beating of her mother and for setting fire to the home. Police had to go inside the home and drag him and Huff’s mother out while it was still ablaze early Nov. 5, 2016.

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