OH Pike Co., 8 in Rhoden Family Murdered Over Custody Issue, 4 Members Wagner Family Arrested #57

[Betty P]

Exactly what I think. Retirement is normally thought about and planned on for years. If an attorney plans to retire say, in 2020, he or she is not going to take on a complicated, 8 victim, death penalty case that will take years because 4 defendants have to have trials scheduled at 4 different times.

No. Something more is going on here. Either it involves health/family emergency or
is connected some way with the recent bond hearing, meaning the 2 attorneys disagree too much and do not want to work together and GW4 is on board with it.

If the attorneys are in conflict I agree, doesn't look good for the defendant's case.

Totally all just my opinion only

I wondered about that at the last hearing. One attorney was doing most of the arguing in support of the bond, etc., the other stayed pretty quiet.

 

[Cool Cats]

I wondered about that at the last hearing. One attorney was doing most of the arguing in support of the bond, etc., the other stayed pretty quiet.

I noticed that too.

I looked it up. The attorney who is leaving the case is the one who did not talk at the hearing.....Humm...

 

[Dudly]

Why would he choose to retire just several months before a death penalty trial he has been a part of for going on 2 years? The Wagners have to have 2 DP attorneys each.

Not fair to the defendant to have your attorney decide to just up and retire almost 2 years into your DP case where your life is at stake unless it's unavoidable, such as health issues or family emergency etc.. Now a whole new attorney has to start over learning the evidence.

Opinion only.

He says the court told him that the trial for his client won’t be starting for a year or more and he would be 74 years old by then. He has closed his business and is retiring.

 

[Cool Cats]

He says the court told him that the trial for his client won’t be starting for a year or more and he would be 74 years old by then. He has closed his business and is retiring.

That makes sense, I thought his trial would be starting in just several months which would seem odd for him to retire now. But he's been told it could actually be 2022 before trial, that is too long to wait. Makes sense but would appreciate links. Thanks. Glad to have the answer to this.

 

[Dudly]

Here is the filing.

 

[Cool Cats]

Here is the filing.

This is great. It's a big deal in GW4's case and now we don't have to keep wondering. Thanks again! Seems WS found out the information before the MSM.

 

[Dudly]

This is great. It's a big deal in GW4's case and now we don't have to keep wondering. Thanks again! Seems WS found out the information before the MSM.

I have good help with getting info like this...

 

[Myland]

Why would he choose to retire just several months before a death penalty trial he has been a part of for going on 2 years? The Wagners have to have 2 DP attorneys each.

Not fair to the defendant to have your attorney decide to just up and retire almost 2 years into your DP case where your life is at stake unless it's unavoidable, such as health issues or family emergency etc.. Now a whole new attorney has to start over learning the evidence.

Opinion only.

Jmo stated his age and the trials not beginning within a year I think it said. He is closing his office. Already told all clients and only has two left.

 

[Cool Cats]

I have good help with getting info like this...

Any of the motions filed in these 4 cases that you or anybody else can get is always much appreciated. The MSM gets their information, often, from these motion filings. Be interesting to see all 4 bond motions for Billy and GW4. I mean the defense files the motion and the prosecution files a response to the motion. We have only seen 1 out of the 4.

We saw Billy's bond motion filed by his defense and the MSM got a hold of the prosecution's response motion - against giving him bond - and gave out some details:

However, in a response to Wagner’s request, prosecutors wrote that the evidence proves the Wagners committed the murders. And, while the Wagners and the Rhodens had been close at one time, the relationship had soured.

The prosecutors wrote that messages from Hanna Rhoden to other family members discussed violence she had endured from Jake Wagner.

The prosecutors also referred to an incident a few weeks before the murders that Local 12 had reported on previously in which family members claimed Billy Wagner and Christopher Rhoden had been in a physical fight.

The court filing also reveals that Billy Wagner’s mother, Fredericka, who had been previously charged with perjury, searched for penalties related to lying to the grand jury the night before she testified in 2018.

AG withdraws from Rhoden case, new details about Wagner-Rhoden relationship revealed

 

[Cool Cats]

Jmo stated his age and the trials not beginning within a year I think it said. He is closing his office. Already told all clients and only has two left.

Thanks you were right! I really thought GW4's trial would be in just several months so it made zero sense to me that his attorney would retire. It does sound like from the filing that he would stay and finish up the case, like he is doing with other cases, if the trial were much much sooner.
But waiting until possibly 2022 is just too long to wait. Be interesting to see who comes on board next.

 

[Myland]

Thanks you were right! I really thought GW4's trial would be in just several months so it made zero sense to me that his attorney would retire. It does sound like from the filing that he would stay and finish up the case, like he is doing with other cases, if the trial were much much sooner.
But waiting until possibly 2022 is just too long to wait. Be interesting to see who comes on board next.

Jmo but it may be good he withdrew cause if convicted an attorney could try to say he didn’t get a full defense since the attorney was focused on retiring and win an appeal and start the process all over

 

[Myland]

Jmo the way I understand it is if someone gets death penalty they can have unlimited attempts at appeal.

 

[Betty P]

Here is the filing.

Thanks, Dudly.

In his filing, he says that State advised him his client's trial won't begin for more than 1 yr. Assume this means State plans to commence the trials of other Wagners before GW4's. I wonder which of the other Wagners will be tried first? Jake or Billy?

 

[Myland]

Thanks, Dudly.

In his filing, he says that State advised him his client's trial won't begin for more than 1 yr. Assume this means State plans to commence the trials of other Wagners before GW4's. I wonder which of the other Wagners will be tried first? Jake or Billy?

Jmo I think it will be same with all cases

 

[Betty P]

Jmo I think it will be same with all cases

JMO, I think they'll begin the first trial next year. There really isn't much left to do in the pre-trial phase that can't be handled once the trial begins.

Just a guess, but I think the state is ready to put their two strongest cases on trial next year.

Also, JMO, I think GW4's retiring attorney may have lingering concerns about his own age, upcoming retirement and the risk of sitting in court for hours on end with COVID 19 still spreading in the community. Can't say I blame him.

ETA: They may have placed GW4's case farther back on the schedule to see if he makes a plea deal. JMO

 

[Myland]

Jmo I think the best case scenario is the state turns everything over soon and maybe by the time they argue over what gets in trial and what doesn’t then the soonest a trial will start will be fall 2021. The longer they fight about turning everything over the longer it will take. Jmo

 

[Myland]

Jmo but think about it in what just 2 months it’s been two years since the arrests and prosecutors still haven’t turned everything over. This is a slow process. If I was innocent I would want to make sure everything is done right and if I was a prosecutor I would want to make sure everything goes right. Sometimes a slow process is for the good for everyone, except for me personally I lack patience jmo

 

[Caylee Advocate]

Buku $$$$$ being spent on death penalty trials only to read articles like these.


Creator Of Death Penalty Law Says Ohio Won't Have Another Execution





Cleveland killer, other death row inmates’ executions delayed as Ohio struggles to find new lethal-injection drugs

 

[Betty P]

Jmo but think about it in what just 2 months it’s been two years since the arrests and prosecutors still haven’t turned everything over. This is a slow process. If I was innocent I would want to make sure everything is done right and if I was a prosecutor I would want to make sure everything goes right. Sometimes a slow process is for the good for everyone, except for me personally I lack patience jmo

I was catching up on another case in Missouri, the trial of a man who killed two brothers in a cattle deal gone wrong. That trial is scheduled for this and next year. Kat West's murder by her husband in AL is going to trial in October, 2 yrs after her murder. We're now into 3 years on these murder trials, primarily because the defense is being allowed to drag out the pretrial process.

They've been given all the evidence. What they're haggling over are minute demands on how it's presented to them by the State. State is accomodating them over and over to avoid giving them grounds for appeal, but its time to move on with the trials.

JMO

 

[Betty P]

Buku $$$$$ being spent on death penalty trials only to read articles like these.


Creator Of Death Penalty Law Says Ohio Won't Have Another Execution





Cleveland killer, other death row inmates’ executions delayed as Ohio struggles to find new lethal-injection drugs

Not a problem, give them LWOP. Just get the trials started already, before Pike County runs out of money. JMO