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Disputed hearing reset

YOUNGSTOWN — A magistrate approved a new hearing date for a protection order case that focused attention on the way the Mahoning County Domestic Court had adapted its courtroom for COVID-19.

Attorney John Juhasz filed a motion with Judge Beth Smith last week asking for a hearing originally scheduled for last Tuesday to be reset in part because of concerns he had that witnesses, attorneys and others would not be able to hear each other properly.

He said a record of an Aug. 13 hearing in which he participated went badly because of problems with microphones and other issues in the courtroom. Because there was no court reporter, a tape recorder was used, but parts of the recording were inaudible.

Some of the problems were related to changes Smith made to her courtroom to provide social distance and safety for everyone.

A Tuesday filing in the case states that the hearing was moved to Nov. 17, and a court reporter will be used for the hearing.

In addition to issues with the courtroom, Juhasz said he needed Tuesday’s hearing to be reset because of a schedule conflict.

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