Attorney Asks Court to Move Gina Battaglia’s Murder Trial Out of Geauga
"Because Ms. Battaglia has essentially been tried and convicted as a result of the . . . newspaper articles, any trial in Geauga County would be nothing more than a hollow formality." – Attorney David Grant
The attorney for a Newbury Township woman accused of conspiring to murder Randy Scheffield in 2011 has asked the court to move her case out of Geauga County.
David L. Grant filed the change of venue request on Tuesday.
In the 26-page filing, Grant states Gina Battaglia cannot get a fair and impartial trial in Geauga County and would like her case transferred to neighboring Cuyahoga County.
“In this case, an agent of the state has intentionally leaked information to the press, a mere two weeks prior to trial, which will prevent Ms. Battaglia from receiving a fair trial in Geauga County,” Grant said. “In addition, the pretrial publicity surrounding this court’s finding that sufficient evidence supports an inference that Ms. Battaglia conspired with Doretta Scheffield to kill Randy Scheffield further prevents Ms. Battaglia from receiving a fair trial.”
In November, a Geauga County jury convicted Doretta of aggravated murder, murder and tampering with evidence. She was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.
Doretta, 64, Battaglia, 31, and David T. “Tig” Rowles, 34, were all arrested March 26, 2015, and charged in connection with Randy’s murder. Rowles is Doretta’s son and the boyfriend of Battaglia and father of her child.
Randy, who owned Scheffield Lawns, a Newbury Township landscaping business, was found unconscious in his bed on Dec. 27, 2011. It was later discovered he had been shot in the back of the head by a small caliber gun. He was 53 at the time.
On Dec. 29, prosecutors also dismissed all charges against Rowles.
“Based upon developments in the case since the grand jury returned the indictments, including some additional information we obtained, we don’t believe that we could prove the allegations against Rowles beyond a reasonable doubt,” Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz told the Geauga County Maple Leaf last week.
“Circumstances have changed somewhat and we are focusing our prosecution efforts going forward on Miss Battaglia,” he said.
The Geauga County Maple Leaf reported last week that, according to a law enforcement official, who spoke with the newspaper on condition of anonymity, Battaglia and Rowles both took polygraph examinations and Battaglia failed.
“The only possible purpose for releasing this information could be to poison the jury pool, thereby preventing Ms. Battaglia from receiving a fair trial,” Grant wrote in his motion.
Grant also claimed a second article, “Judge Allows Conspiracy Evidence in Scheffield Murder,” published in the Dec. 31 issue of the Maple Leaf “further frustrated” any possibility his client could receive a fair trial in Geauga County.
That article reported on a Dec. 29 court ruling in which Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge David Fuhry found prosecutors had provided sufficient independent proof to present evidence of a conspiracy at Battaglia’s trial.
“The article contained an extensive discussion of the evidence in this case,” Grant said.
In addition, Grant argued the Dec. 31 article disclosed evidence that Fuhry ruled in his Dec. 29 order was inadmissible at trial; namely, statements Doretta made to a jailhouse informant that Fuhry found enhanced the “persuasive effect” of other circumstantial evidence.
“Because Ms. Battaglia has essentially been tried and convicted as a result of the . . . newspaper articles, any trial in Geauga County would be nothing more than a hollow formality,” Grant said.
He added, “In combination, the two articles compel the conclusion that Ms. Battaglia is guilty because she ‘100 percent’ failed her polygraph examination and also because this court found that the state of Ohio has sufficient evidence to prove that she conspired with Doretta to murder Randy Scheffield.”
Prosecutors on Wednesday filed an eight-page response to Grant’s request to move the case to Cuyahoga County.
“It is not in dispute that this case has attracted media coverage. No attempt has been made to seat a jury at this point, though,” Flaiz said, adding Grant has not shown that an attempt to seat a jury is a vain act.
“In terms of pretrial publicity (Battaglia) can only point to five articles written over a nine month period in the Geauga Maple Leaf; three of which only mention that (Battaglia) was charged and her trial date. This is quite minimal for a murder case,” Flaiz said. “Beyond which, there is nothing contained in these articles that goes beyond what normally would occur in the reporting on an alleged crime such as this one. These items contain no demonization of (Battaglia).”
Flaiz conceded the Maple Leaf’s reporting does inform the public of certain facts in the case, but nothing that is “so shocking, so emotional or so detrimental to (Battaglia) that it can be presumed that no one in the county could be fair and impartial.”
“The Maple Leaf has engaged in responsible, neutral, fact-based reporting,” the prosecutor said, arguing it would be premature to transfer the case without attempting to seat a jury.
A trial management conference and hearing on pending motions is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Jan. 7.
