I appreciate you so much in keeping us up to date on this horrific case. Can I please ask you, will you be attending the trial when it happens?

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/08/anthony_sowell_murder_trial_mo.html

CLEVELAND, Ohio — Only one representative from each family of the 11 women whose remains were found in Anthony Sowell’s home will be able to sit in the courtroom during Sowell’s trial because of limited space, said the judge presiding over the case.

Other family members will be able to watch the proceedings on video in a separate room near the courtroom. An additional room may be provided for others who want to view the trial.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Dick Ambrose, in a media meeting Friday, also said he expects the trial, scheduled for Sept. 7, to last six to eight weeks, with about two of those weeks for jury selection.

The judge’s courtroom has 28 seats. He said there aren’t enough seats to accommodate all of the victims’ family members, the media and the public. Two seats will be set aside for Sowell’s family.

“We will not move to another courtroom because it would cause major disruptions in the other courts,” Ambrose said.

Four or five of the courtroom seats will be available to the public. The remaining ones probably will go to members of the press, the judge said.

Ambrose said he studied several high-profile trials in Northeast Ohio and around the country to help him decide what rules to set and how to avoid anything that would cause a mistrial.

“It is important that the trial be carried out in a fair and constitutional manner,” he said. “We do not want any retrials or do-overs and only want to do this once. It will be a lengthy trial and a lot of emotion for the family members of the victims.”

No one will be allowed to have a cell phone in the courtroom except Sowell’s lawyers and the prosecutors, who need them to keep track of witnesses, Ambrose said. Only one video camera will be in the courtroom but its images will be shared by media and transmitted to the rooms with family members and the public.

Ambrose said he will probably issue passes for those allowed in the courtroom. All the rules will be outlined in a court order before the start of the trial, he said.

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Also Anthony Sowells attorney is trying to get any statements his client made after his arrest thrown out, say he didn’t understand his rights. Unfortunately his client waived his rights verbally at least twice in three days and signed a waiver form.

I feel terrible for the limited seating for the victims families. To be alone during this trial is going to be very hard.

At least the trial will commence within a month. I don’t know if TRU tv will cover it or not. I hope so. It is hard to reconcile this massive death penalty trial starts eight months after the arrest, while Caylee’s justice is still quite far into the future.

Good for you, LA law enforcement!

Unlike the Cleveland police who didn’t even connect the dots of woman missing in Cleveland let alone realize that they were looking for a serial killer. The task force in Cleveland has not released any information regarding the possible connection to more than 50 unsolved murders. One can hope that they will use DNA databanks like LA’s.
IDK maybe I am too harsh on Cleveland PD, but at least LA was looking.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/07/grim.sleeper.arrest/index.html

Surveillance of the house of horrors on Imperial Road will be scaled back on June 5 to nighttime hours only.

The defense is hoping to have it’s expert witness check out the house as soon as possible.

The house was seen crying in response to being left alone yesterday. Oh wait, that was rain. Never mind.

They also have filed a motion for a gag order for all parties.

The prosecutor filed a motion to reduce the around the clock protection the gruesome house on Imperial Avenue has been receiving since the case broke early last winter. A fence costing $15000 has been erected. Evidently the house has been the recipient of death threats, the consensus being that it should be burned to the ground. The prosecutors would like the night shift police put back on patrol.

The house, being made of wood, brick, glass and other non thinking matter, has not voiced an opinion on the threats, beautiful new fence or the state letting everyone know when no police would be around.

The judge is very unhappy. If her daughter was under age, boy oh boy would she be grounded!

The whole city is abuzz and a lot of blogging about blogging and the impact on society and the legal system is happening.

The case has been full of accusations of the appearance of impropriety (three motions to recuse so far) after the Judge’s daughter made nasty comments about Mr. Sowell and his lawyer on a local blog. Also there was an issue with the court releasing Mr. Sowells psyc evaluation to the press with Mr. Sims claiming the judge did it. Turns out Mr. Sowell signed a release of privacy form at the time of his sentencing for a previous rape charge. The report stated that he was unlikely to reoffend. Mr. Sims called the Judge a liar and she said the only person being rude was Mr. Sims.

The Ohio Supreme Court has no timeline rules and is known to take months to decide such things and now the trial is on hold.

The trial is scheduled to begin June 2 of THIS YEAR. Far cry from the Anthony case.