LOGAN — Perhaps unsurprisingly given recent developments, the defense attorney for indicted former sheriff’s deputy Caleb Moritz has asked the judge who is hearing the case to push back the date of Moritz’s trial, currently scheduled to begin Aug. 19.
Four months after Moritz resigned in April of last year as chief deputy of the Hocking County Sheriff’s office, he was indicted on felony charges of grand theft and intimidation of an attorney, victim or witness in a criminal case. A new indictment issued in April of this year added counts of corrupting another with drugs; tampering with evidence; unlawful transactions in weapons; forgery; and theft.
Moritz is accused, among other things, of having stolen items including large amounts of gun ammunition from the sheriff’s office, and of having misused his position as an officer to try to pressure a woman he had allegedly been involved with sexually to recant allegations she had made against him in a complaint to law enforcement.
Given Moritz’s recent status as an important Hocking County official, a judge from outside the county was appointed to hear the case, and two state assistant attorneys general were assigned to prosecute it. The appointment of those special prosecutors, and a recent attempt to replace them with another prosecutor, are part of the reason that Moritz’s attorney, Paul Scarsella, has asked Judge Randy Deering for a continuance of the trial date.
In a motion filed on Monday in Hocking County Common Pleas Court, Scarsella cites two reasons he thinks the trial should be delayed. The first is that, in a recent notice from the prosecutors handling the case, Scarsella was informed that they were sharing an enormous batch — more than 1,000 files worth — of new evidence he will need to review.
The other reason Scarsella cites is the pending motion by Hocking County Prosecutor Jennifer Graham, that asks Deering to terminate the appointments of special prosecutors Cynthia Ellison and Brad Tammaro, and to allow the appointment of Vinton County Prosecutor William L. Archer, Jr. in their place. Deering has scheduled a hearing on the matter for July 26.
The fate of other recent motions by Graham to terminate special prosecutor appointments might not give her cause for optimism. After holding court hearings last week Hocking County Common Pleas Judge Jason Despetorich denied her motions to terminate special prosecutors in the cases of Isaac Pence and Sabra Flagg, two Fairfield County residents who are facing charges in connection with an alleged fatal stabbing that took place in April 2023.
Despetorich indicated in making his decision that, in a case which for one of the defendants includes a murder charge, and on which the prosecution team has been working for over a year, it doesn’t seem wise to swap out prosecutors at this late date, given that such a move would likely delay resolution of the case even further.
His reasoning was similar in connection with the cases of Paul Sebring and Irene Day, a couple charged with sexually abusing two children under the age of 10. Graham had asked to terminate the appointments of special prosecutors Ellison and Erik Spitzer in those cases, though she had not asked for appointment of a new special prosecutor or prosecutors.
In rulings issued July 11 Despetorich turned down those requests as well, again citing the length of time the cases have been pending, and the likelihood that a change in the prosecution team at this point would create more unnecessary delay.
Email at jphillips@logandaily.com
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