Judge decides against gag order in Ethan Liming case
A Summit County judge on Thursday denied a prosecution request to impose a gag order in the case involving those charged in the death of Firestone High School student Ethan Liming.
Judge Tammy O’Brien said that could change, but pointed out that there had been no significant media coverage of the case for nearly six weeks.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys, she said, could weed out any potential biased jurors during voir dire, the pretrial process when attorneys question prospective jurors about what they know and believe about a case, along with other issues.
No trial date has been set for brothers Tyler and DeShawn Stafford, who face involuntary manslaughter and other charges in Liming’s death outside Akron’s I Promise School earlier this year.
But the trial likely won’t happen this year. O’Brien said Thursday that she is already booking trials now into February.
Legal proceedings for Donovon Jones, the third defendant charged in relation to Liming's death, are being carried out separately from the Stafford brothers' case.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: No gag order or trial date yet in Ethan Liming case
