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Lane’s attorneys get more time to prepare
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - August 21, 2012)
Lane’s attorneys get more time to prepare
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
The trial of Thomas Lane III, accused shooter in the Feb. 27 Chardon High School killings, that was scheduled to begin this week has been delayed.
Attorneys for Mr. Lane, known as T.J., requested an extension of time to better prepare their case. The case before Geauga County Common Pleas Court Judge David Fuhry was scheduled to begin Tuesday.
Attorney Mark R. DeVan, representing Mr. Lane, filed a motion Aug. 8 seeking an additional 60 days in which to prepare his case for a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. In response, Assistant County Prosecutor Nicholas A. Burling asked that the court only consider a 30-day extension.
“More extensions will only push the case further back on the calendar,” Mr. Burling wrote. “While the defendant is entitled to a vigorous defense and a fair trial, the families affected by this case deserve not to have their proceedings extended indefinitely.”
A hearing is scheduled Monday before Judge Fuhry to determine how long the trial will be delayed.
Mr. Lane, indicted in June, faces three counts of aggravated murder, two counts of attempted aggravated murder and one count of felonious assault. The charges stem from the killings of Chardon High School students Demetrius Hewlin, 16, Russell King Jr., 17, and Danny Parmertor, 17, and the wounding of three other students.
Testimony in Geauga County Juvenile Court revealed that 10 shots were fired from a .22-caliber semiautomatic Ruger pistol.
Mr. DeVan wrote that Mr. Lane’s psychological profile has been provided by Dr. Phillip Resnick and Dr. Sandra McPherson, but additional tests are needed.
“The defendant is currently undergoing additional psychiatric and psychological evaluation and testing as to his mental state at the time of the acts in question,” Mr. DeVan wrote. “Additional time is required to gather facts and formulate conclusions about the defendant’s mental state at the time of the offenses charged, a conclusion that is necessary to support a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.”
In addition, he contends, mental health experts, working for the defense, need more time to review records.
“The defendant’s mental health experts are awaiting the defendant’s social service records from the Geauga County Job and Family Services, and his records compiled by the Portage-Geauga Juvenile Detention Center,” he wrote. “The defendant’s experts will need to review those records in light of the defendant’s mental illnesses to determine their relevance to his mental condition at the time of the acts in question which are the subject of the indictment.”
Mr. Burling said his office would not agree to 60 days.
“The state respectfully asks this honorable court to give the defendant no more than an additional 30 days to file a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity,” he wrote. “The defendant has requested an additional 60 days, but the state cannot agree to that amount of time.”
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