OH - Pike Co - 8 in Rhoden Family Murdered - 4 Wagner Family Members Arrested #88

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I cannot get the brief that was filed in George's appeal case to post here. I just get a message that it is still uploading each time I try to attach the file, no matter how long I give it to load. Hopefully the media will put it out to read some time soon but was hoping to be able to put it here.

If anyone has any suggestions or a work around please let me know.

I thought the brief was interesting, they claimed more erros that I had thought they would.
 
Covert Operative said:
I cannot get the brief that was filed in George's appeal case to post here. I just get a message that it is still uploading each time I try to attach the file, no matter how long I give it to load. Hopefully the media will put it out to read some time soon but was hoping to be able to put it here.

If anyone has any suggestions or a work around please let me know.

I thought the brief was interesting, they claimed more erros that I had thought they would.
Click to expand...
Thanks for trying.

Have you seen enough to paraphrase the brief?

Thanks,
JMO
 
This article has a good amount of information. It does not contain the brief but gives some details of the brief.
www.wcpo.com

Pike County murder trial: George Wagner IV appeals, requests new trial

George was convicted in November 2022 of 22 charges connected to the murders of eight members of the Rhoden and Gilley families in Pike County, Ohio in 2016.
www.wcpo.com www.wcpo.com
 
Puzzles8 said:
Thanks for trying.

Have you seen enough to paraphrase the brief?

Thanks,
JMO
Click to expand...

sciotovalleyguardian.com

George Wagner, IV officially files murder-conviction appeal, citing judicial errors - Scioto Valley Guardian

WAVERLY, Ohio — George Wagner IV's new appeals lawyers have filed a brief this week requesting that his murder convictions related to the Pike County massacre be overturned due to several potential errors during his 2022 trial. Wagner is one of four family members accused of killing eight...
sciotovalleyguardian.com sciotovalleyguardian.com
Prosecutors now have to 60 days to respond to the petition.

The brief, filed Monday, lists nine possible errors in the original trial, including:
  • Failure to dismiss the death penalty specifications against Wagner before the trial.
  • Failure to dismiss several jurors who possibly knew the victims or their families.
  • Allowing the presentation of gruesome images that might have influenced those jurors.
  • Admission of evidence of other crimes and misdeeds not directly related to the murders.
  • Permitting Jake and Angela Wagner to testify as part of “coercive plea deals.”
  • Blocking the defense’s attempts to access Jake Wagner’s medical records.
  • Allowing the prosecution to accuse George Wagner of lying and his defense attorneys of coaching him.
He argues in his filing that there's “a reasonable probability that jurors were swayed” by the alleged errors.
Among the alleged errors he cites in his appeal are that prosecutors were allowed to present evidence about crimes and guns not tied to the Rhoden killings, which only served to connect Wagner to criminal acts of his family.

“It is impossible to say beyond a reasonable doubt that jurors did not lose their way and convict George because they thought he was just like his criminal family members,” the appeal argues.
 
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Found more information:

Highlights of allegations:
  • Jurors who were more likely to sign a death penalty verdict and were “statistically more likely to enter a conviction” were selected and then the death penalty option was removed.
  • “Of the jurors who did serve, two of them had direct personal connections to the victims that Jake Wagner and his father, Billy Wagner, shot to death in their sleep.”
  • “For weeks at the start of the trial, the State saturated the minds of the jurors with the images of faces they had seen before in their daily lives, now gruesomely dead, and the reactions of family members who lost loved ones. When the State finally got around to admitting evidence related to George, it was largely meant to connect him to his family members through prior crimes and wrongs under the guise of establishing an ongoing scheme to commit crimes together or to show that he and his family owned a significant arsenal of firearms. Jurors were even given some evidence of firearms the State admitted had nothing to do with the case at hand, which had either been withdrawn from evidence or excluded by the trial court.”
  • During closing arguments, “the State accused defense counsel of knowing that George was lying and coaching his testimony.”
“It is impossible to say beyond a reasonable doubt that jurors did not lose their way and convict George because they thought he was just like his criminal family members, he had probably committed the charged crimes because he had acted wrongfully and criminally in the past, he was lying consistent with his character and advice from his lawyers, and an acquittal would dishonor the victims and disappoint their family members, who had already suffered so much,” the brief states.

www.fox19.com

Pike County massacre: George Wagner IV wants new trial

His attorney alleges several errors during his 2022 trial should overturn his murder convictions
www.fox19.com www.fox19.com
 
Covert Operative said:
This article has a good amount of information. It does not contain the brief but gives some details of the brief.
www.wcpo.com

Pike County murder trial: George Wagner IV appeals, requests new trial

George was convicted in November 2022 of 22 charges connected to the murders of eight members of the Rhoden and Gilley families in Pike County, Ohio in 2016.
www.wcpo.com www.wcpo.com
Click to expand...

It seems like standard appeal arguments. They objected to the state pressuring George by talking about how he was subject to the death penalty. Well, that was the nature of the crimes he was charged with. We've all read the laws, its pretty clear. The law also clearly defines how a defendant only needs to have been present at the crime to be charged with murder.

"George was entitled to a trial without the specter of the death penalty hanging over him," reads the document. "His brother entered into a plea deal requiring dismissal of all death specifications in the case without delay."
Click to expand...

Jake was also charged with a death penalty crime, as were the other members of his family. That's just the way it was. There was nothing illegal about Jake deciding to take a plea deal. His deal required that none of the rest of his family be subject to the DP.

George's attorneys also complain about the jury being shown too many gory crime scene photos over a period of days. George helped kill 8 people in 4 different locations. That necessitated showing photos for each of those crimes in each location. Its not the prosecution's fault so many victims were killed by the Wagners that night.
 
Pretrial dates for Billy's trial in January.
06/17/2024"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Judge: JUNK, ROBERTEvent: PRE-TRIALDate: 08/02/2024 Time: 01:00 PM
06/17/2024"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Judge: JUNK, ROBERTEvent: PRE-TRIALDate: 09/05/2024 Time: 01:00 PM
06/17/2024"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Judge: JUNK, ROBERTEvent: PRE-TRIALDate: 10/07/2024 Time: 01:00 PM
06/17/2024"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Judge: JUNK, ROBERTEvent: PRE-TRIALDate: 11/06/2024 Time: 01:00 PM
06/17/2024"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Judge: JUNK, ROBERTEvent: PRE-TRIALDate: 12/16/2024 Time: 01:00 PM
06/17/2024"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""Judge: JUNK, ROBERTEvent: PRE-TRIALDate: 01/03/2025 Time: 09:00 AM
 
Betty P said:
Junk can't be the judge. If he is he will make sure Billy goes free for Fred Wagner.
Click to expand...

here is a docket entry re judge
06/03/2024CERTIFICATE OF ASSIGNMENT -- JONATHAN P. HEIN, A RETIRED JUDGE OF THE DARKE COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, GENERAL AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DIVISION, IS ASSIGNED EFFECTIVE MAY 29, 2024, TO PRESIDE IN THE PIKE COUNTY COMMON PLEAS TO HEAR CASE 2018CR000157, STATE OF OHIO V GEORGE WAGNER III AND TO CONCLUDE ANY PROCEEDINGS IN WHICH THE JUDGE PARTICIPATED
 
Niner said:
here is a docket entry re judge
06/03/2024CERTIFICATE OF ASSIGNMENT -- JONATHAN P. HEIN, A RETIRED JUDGE OF THE DARKE COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, GENERAL AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DIVISION, IS ASSIGNED EFFECTIVE MAY 29, 2024, TO PRESIDE IN THE PIKE COUNTY COMMON PLEAS TO HEAR CASE 2018CR000157, STATE OF OHIO V GEORGE WAGNER III AND TO CONCLUDE ANY PROCEEDINGS IN WHICH THE JUDGE PARTICIPATED
Click to expand...

He will be sentencing AW and JW sometime after BW's trial. Scheduled for first week of January last I saw.
 
Caylee Advocate said:
sciotovalleyguardian.com

Piketon massacre patriarch returns to court in August

Scioto Valley Guardian
sciotovalleyguardian.com sciotovalleyguardian.com
Click to expand...

In the article:
Presiding Judge Robert Alan Corbin, assigned from Brown County, has yet to rule on the change of venue request. He promised to issue a written decision promptly after reviewing relevant case precedents.

I have in my notes that Judge Corbin was replaced by Judge Jonathan P. Hein. Is that still true? TIA if anyone knows!
 
Here is the entry for the new Judge:

06/03/2024 CERTIFICATE OF ASSIGNMENT -- JONATHAN P. HEIN, A RETIRED JUDGE OF THE DARKE COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, GENERAL AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS DIVISION, IS ASSIGNED EFFECTIVE MAY 29, 2024, TO PRESIDE IN THE PIKE COUNTY COMMON PLEAS TO HEAR CASE 2018CR000157, STATE OF OHIO V GEORGE WAGNER III AND TO CONCLUDE ANY PROCEEDINGS IN WHICH THE JUDGE PARTICIPATED

Plus - they have the incorrect Judge on the Events...


Events
Date Description Event Judge
08/02/2024 01:00 PM PRE-TRIAL JUNK, ROBERT

09/05/2024 01:00 PM PRE-TRIAL JUNK, ROBERT

10/07/2024 01:00 PM PRE-TRIAL JUNK, ROBERT

11/06/2024 01:00 PM PRE-TRIAL JUNK, ROBERT

12/16/2024 01:00 PM PRE-TRIAL JUNK, ROBERT

01/03/2025 09:00 AM PRE-TRIAL JUNK, ROBERT

01/06/2025 09:00 AM JURY TRIAL JUNK, ROBERT

link: https://cpcourt.pikecounty.oh.gov/e...u4hNvrsrcUQ3gnlR*5qdf*wrtPjmM7jfE5BsryPLb4r4w
 
Niner said:
In the article:
Presiding Judge Robert Alan Corbin, assigned from Brown County, has yet to rule on the change of venue request. He promised to issue a written decision promptly after reviewing relevant case precedents.

I have in my notes that Judge Corbin was replaced by Judge Jonathan P. Hein. Is that still true? TIA if anyone knows!
Click to expand...

Hi Niner, you are correct that Hein replaced Corbin... and thank goodness for that. :):) MOO

Judge Corbin went ahead and fully retired due to health reasons. I think it was the first week of June 2024 that Judge Hein was appointed by OSC. I don't have a link but I do know it to be true. ;)
 
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RAISINISBACK said:
TY
Click to expand...
Hope you get to watch it so you can give us your feedback. JMO, it was mostly very good and accurate, revealing all the new details in an orderly, coherent way. They do a good job of building both the events that led up to the murders, then the murders, then the escape and eventual apprehension. There were a couple of things that didn't seem quite accurate, but overall was good.
 
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