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Attorneys in Dem Party chair theft case spar over discovery |
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Written by Athens NEWS Staff
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Thursday, 19 November 2009 10:00 |
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Attorneys in the criminal case against Athens County Democratic Party Chair Susan Gwinn are trading potshots over discovery issues.
Gwinn has pled not guilty in Athens County Common Pleas Court to an indictment charging her with two felony counts of theft in office; one felony count of money laundering; one misdemeanor count of unauthorized use of property; and two misdemeanor counts of falsification.
The charges stem from her alleged misuse of party funds during her campaign to try to unseat Athens County Prosecutor C. David Warren during the last Democratic primary.
Gwinn’s attorney, Dennis W. McNamara, has argued in a recent memo to the court that the special prosecutor in the case, Dave Yost, has not provided the defense with anywhere near the evidence he is required to produce in discovery. McNamara called the state’s discovery response “very inadequate.”
Though McNamara has gotten three computer disks containing about 1,000 pages of documents, he wrote, these do not include a list of state witnesses, do not indicate which of the documents the state intends to use as exhibits, and do not identify exculpatory evidence.
McNamara also complained that Yost has not provided a detailed bill of particulars, indicating exactly what alleged actions of Gwinn’s support the charges against her.
“There are two identical charges of theft in the indictment,” the attorney wrote. “And neither count of theft indicates what was allegedly stolen or from whom it was allegedly stolen. The indictment charges unauthorized use of property without indicating what property is involved or in what manner it was used. The indictment does not detail the manner in which the defendant is alleged to have violated the money laundering statute.”
In an earlier filing, Yost suggested that the delay in producing discovery was partly due to attempts at working out a plea bargain, which “were not successful.”
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albert