Claudia Hoerig wants out, asks fed judge for public defender

YOUNGSTOWN

Claudia Hoerig has asked a federal judge to assign her a federal public defender to work on her request to be released from detention on a habeas corpus petition. Habeas corpus is a writ requiring a person under arrest to be brought before a judge or into court, especially to secure the person’s release unless lawful grounds are shown for their detention.

Hoerig, 54, is in the Trumbull County jail, awaiting a Jan. 14 trial in Trumbull County Common Pleas court on aggravated murder in the March 2007 death of her husband, Karl Hoerig, in their Newton Falls home.

On Monday, the Youngstown federal court docketed her hand-written request for a federal public defender, which said she is unable to pay the costs of the petition and is unable to litigate the case on her own “due to the complexity of the case.”