Staff photo / Ed Runyan Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro speaks during a hearing Monday regarding late evidence provided to the defense that resulted in the Matthew Nicholson rape trial being postponed. It was scheduled to start Monday morning.

YOUNGSTOWN — A defense attorney in a rape case set for trial Monday filed motions Sunday asking for sanctions against the State of Ohio after learning Friday of evidence recently discovered by the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s office.

The filing suggests that dismissal of charges by Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney against Matthew Nicholson, 47, of Columbiana, would be warranted, though it sought “at the very least” postponement of the trial. The trial was postponed and a hearing is set for March 27 on the request for sanctions.

The motion, filed by attorney John Shultz, called the late notification of the evidence “egregious.” It states that on Friday morning, Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Dinsio texted him to tell him there were 382 photographs that were never disclosed to Shultz.

Later Friday, he learned that there were also text messages that were possibly helpful to the defense’s case from an alleged victim, a report from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and three other investigative reports. He received all of the items later Friday and into the weekend.

The filing cited case law that discussed the reasons why there is a criminal rule that requires prosecutors to turn over evidence they possess in a timely manner “to ensure fairness of criminal proceedings.”

Shultz’ filing states that “Clearly, in this matter, the State has not timely complied with Criminal Rule 16. A trial court has broad discretion in deciding an appropriate sanction to impose for a violation of these rules.”

Shultz stated that he and his client are “not in a position to allege any bad faith on the part of the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office.” Still, the late evidence has put his client in a bad position, Schultz stated. And Shultz now “does not know what other discoverable information exists of which he is unaware.”

Shultz said in the filing and at a hearing Monday morning a couple of hours after the trial was scheduled to begin that the late evidence will “have a direct impact on his trial strategy and defense.”

Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro spoke first at Monday’s hearing, saying she was alerted last week that while her attorneys were preparing for Monday’s trial, Dinsio learned of the late evidence.

Dinsio asked the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office, which had investigated the case, some questions about something found on Nicholson’s property. “At that time she was told there were photographs that would provide assistance,” Maro said.

“We did not have copies of photographs. We advised the sheriff’s office we did not.” Maro said Dinsio immediately notified Shultz of the photos. When Dinsio got the photos, Dinsio “then said to the Sheriff’s Office ‘I want to see your entire file.'”

Maro said the prosecutor’s office had repeatedly asked the sheriff’s office for “everything the sheriff’s office had on this. And we believed we had everything. We then discovered three additional police reports” and then learned of the text messages. Another large digital file was also provided by the sheriff’s office and in turn was provided to Shultz, Maro said.

Maro said that since she took over as county prosecutor in January 2025, her office “implemented procedures to try to minimize this happening with untimely disclosures.” She said one step was not presenting cases to the county grand jury “until we have everything from the police. There is a check list they have to sign certifying they have given us everything.”

Maro said, “The Sheriff’s Office turned over everything they thought was relevant to this investigation. Items that were just disclosed on Friday and the (digital evidence) we just disclosed this morning, they did not believe was relevant to this investigation and these charges,” Maro said.

She called evidence “tangential issues,” such as “a dispute with a neighbor, ” Maro said. But “We have explained to them ‘Everything means everything.'”

She noted that her office has no objection to Shultz’ request for Sweeney to look at the redactions that were made to the text messages that were turned over Friday to the defense. She said her office will also file a written response to the motion for sanctions.

Nicholson was going on trial Monday on three counts of rape, but the trial is postponed, and a hearing on the motion is set for March 27.

When Shultz spoke at the hearing, he said the redactions to the text messages were done “unilaterally,” which he said “quite frankly upset me.” He said getting so much new information so late leaves him feeling “I don’t know what I don’t know. I don’t know what I don’t have.”

Maro said she was advised Monday afternoon the sheriff’s office was “getting their whole team together and making sure everybody on the team understands that everything means everything.” She said the prosecutor’s office will talk with the sheriff’s office more about the issue later.

She said, “I am as concerned as attorney Shultz. We don’t know what we don’t have.”

Sweeney responded that she would like the prosecutor’s office to also have that conversation with “all of the other local police departments.” Maro said her office has been talking to the police departments about procedures, but her office will get a letter out to them right away and “let them know that law enforcement doesn’t get to determine relevance.”

Sweeney said, “That is something they should produce no matter what.”