Moore trial delayed, again
Trending
YOUNGSTOWN -- Once again, the Robert L. Moore murder trial has been postponed, and it again relates to a witness in the case. The trial is now set for Nov. 13.
Moore, 53, of Alliance is accused of killing Glenna J. White, 16, who disappeared from a Smith Township home in 2009 and is presumed dead.
The trial was scheduled to begin Tuesday morning before Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, but issues raised by the defense again pushed the case back.
The trial was postponed in August because of the arrest of the witness several days before the trial was set to begin, making it impossible for her to testify.
The trial also was postponed last week after a potential juror complained to a bailiff in the courtroom that he did not qualify to be a juror because of his criminal record and made other statements that were heard by other potential jurors. He made the remarks just as jury selection was about to begin.
This time, the reason for the postponement was the news that a grand jury in Stark County had refused to indict the witness last week. It caused defense attorney Lou DeFabio to tell Judge Maureen Sweeney he wanted to request a transcript of the grand jury proceedings in the witness' case in case it helped his client.
Mike Yacovone, county assistant prosecutor, said an attempt was made Tuesday morning to determine how difficult it would be to obtain a copy of the transcript for Sweeney to view privately to help resolve the matter, but the judge involved with the case in Stark County is not available until next week.
DeFabio later Tuesday asked for the trial to be postponed until after the transcripts can be obtained. Yacovone said the prosecutor's office did not object to the trial being postponed because of the potential appeal-related issues that could arise if the trial were not postponed.
Furthermore, the second attorney who was scheduled to try the case with Yacovone is off work with COVID-19, Yacovone said.
Moore was tried by a jury before Sweeney in June 2022. It found Moore not guilty of aggravated murder, but it could not reach a verdict on the charge of murder, so prosecutors chose to try Moore again.