Fuhry Grants Joint Motion to Continue Lane Murder Trial
T.J. Lane's trial will be pushed back — yet again.Last week, prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a joint motion to continue the murder…
T.J. Lane’s trial will be pushed back — yet again.
Last week, prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a joint motion to continue the murder trial of accused Chardon Schools gunman T.J. Lane, which was set to begin Jan. 14.
On Monday, Geauga County Court of Common Please Judge David Fuhry granted the motion, agreeing with the state and defense’s reasoning.
In the three-page motion filed late Thursday afternoon, the lawyers agreed the “interests of justice” would be best served if Fuhry allows a continuance of the trial date.
“All counsel have recently come into possession of voluminous documents and other evidence that necessitate a continuance of the trial in this matter,” the attorneys said. “Both parties recognize and assert that continuing the trial is in the interests of justice.”
They also asked Fuhry to cancel all dates for the submission of expert reports and reset them at a future date to allow the parties’ respective experts “to review the new material and reassess their opinions.”
“The parties are assessing all new evidence to determine the appropriate amount of time needed to review said evidence and prepare for its use during the trial of this matter,” the attorneys said.
After Monday’s hearing, Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz said on the state’s end, they are still waiting for forensic analysis to be completed.
“So we also needed more time to get the results of that and then get it over to the defense,” he said.
Lane’s defense attorney Ian Friedman referenced the documents they mentioned in the joint motion and needing additional time to go through them.
“Certainly there were reasons on both sides for the request,” Flaiz said.
At the hearing, Fuhry said he will set a new pretrial date later this month to determine the new trial date.
“Sometime at the end of the month he will schedule a pretrial or attorney conferences, I’m not sure which yet,” Flaiz said. “And then at that point, we hope all of what we’re waiting for will be in. At that point we will be able to set out a trial schedule and we will be able to reset all the deadlines.”
Fuhry also dismissed the current jury pool, so the juror selection process will start over again once the trial date is set.
Last Monday, Lane’s attorneys also filed three motions with the court — which the state has 30 days from the filing date to respond — including one that challenges the constitutionality of Ohio’s insanity defense.
Attorney Mark DeVan asked Fuhry for permission to file Lane’s motion and supporting brief under seal.
“It is in the public’s interest that evidentiary matters germane to the defense should not be publicly disseminated until introduced during trial,” DeVan argued.
He added, “In addition, it is in the interests of the state and defendant to maintain said motion and its references to evidentiary matters under seal to avoid unwarranted additional pretrial publicity.”
Other defense motions request permission:
– To photograph the Geauga County Safety Center and Portage-Geauga County Detention Center, where Lane was held until he turned 18 in September.
– To shield from the media the identity of a potential female defense witness to be called at trial in order to avoid tainting her testimony.
– To file under seal additional documents in support of Lane’s motion to move the trial outside of Geauga County.
