43
Lance Hundley changes mind twice on counsel in capital case
By Joe Gorman
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.
Hundley also fired his first set of court-appointed attorneys, which is when Judge Sweeney appointed Juhasz and Taylor to represent him.
When Hundley asked to represent himself, the judge asked him a lengthy series of questions, such as did he know he would be held to the same rules as the other attorneys. He answered yes to most, but at one point, when she asked if he understood how to question jurors during jury selection in a death-penalty case, he said, “Your honor, I’ll figure it out. I’ll figure it out.”
“Mr. Hundley, you don’t have time to figure it out,” Judge Sweeney replied.
“I’ll figure it out,” Hundley answered.
Juhasz and Taylor did not say what differences they had with Hundley, but when Judge Sweeney asked Hundley if they had investigated things for him, he spoke out.
“Well that hasn’t quite happened with my attorneys,” Hundley said.
A clearly exasperated Judge Sweeney told Hundley she had changed her mind and would appoint a lawyer from out of Mahoning and Trumbull counties for him.
“I don’t mean to offend the court,” Hundley said.
“Well, you are,” Judge Sweeney replied.
Court adjourned shortly after, then Hundley asked to speak to the judge again. With Taylor and Juhasz in the room, but seated separately from Hundley, Hundley said he was concerned with how long it would take for a new lawyer to get up to speed on the case and he wants his trial to proceed, so he decided to represent himself.
Taylor and Juhasz will be standby counsel for Hundley, and he can consult with them, but not before jurors, the judge said. Should he agree to have them jump in, the trial process will not start over again, Judge Sweeney said.