Saturday, June 7th, 2008

Trial delayed in local quadruple fatality case

By Margie Wuebker
A new trial date has been set in the case of a Chickasaw man as Mercer County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Ingraham considers motions filed in the case.
Nicholas Schwieterman, 22, 90 Maple St., faces a five-day jury trial commencing Sept. 22. This replaces the original June 9 date set back in April.
Pretrial briefs must be filed with the court on or before Sept. 4 with a final pretrial hearing scheduled at 9:30 a.m. that day.
Schwieterman's legal team has requested modification of electronic monitoring to allow him to attend church services with family members. The motion filed June 3 states "He would like to have the benefit of spiritual guidance during current circumstances."
Dayton attorneys Scott M. Calaway and Marc T. Ross are seeking suppression of results from blood and urine tests performed on Schwieterman at Mercer County Community Hospital in Coldwater following the accident as well as oral and/or written statements made to authorities and evidence accessed through seizure of his wallet. They also want a reduction in bond to allow the defendant's family to pay for necessary legal measures including attorney fees, expert witness fees and scientific testing fees.
Another motion filed on May 28 requests independent testing of Schwieterman's urine sample currently stored at Ohio State University Medical Center in Columbus. The attorneys want an independent test to be conducted at Toxicology Associates Inc. in Columbus at their client's expense.
The urine test performed at OSU allegedly revealed the presence of cocaine and marijuana while blood work reportedly indicated a blood-alcohol content of .134 nearly twice the .08 limit.
The judge has taken the latest motions under consideration like others filed in the case.
Schwieterman faces a 16-count indictment which includes four counts of involuntary manslaughter and eight counts of aggravated vehicular homicide in the deaths of Jordan Moeller, Jordan Diller, Brad Roeckner and Jordan Goettemoeller. He remains under house arrest after his father posted $200,000 - 10 percent of the $2 million cash bond.
Additional online stories on this date
Bulldogs score five runs in final two innings to rally past Dover
AKRON - It took five innings for Celina batters to figure out Dover pitcher Kristen Moreland.
When they did, everyone got into the act.
The Bulld [More]
COLUMBUS - Canton Central Catholic got a big performance from Grant McCoury and it was enough to send the Crusaders into the Division III state championship baseball game. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
Sirens sounded around Mercer County Friday night after the National Weather Service in Wilmington issued a tornado warning for the area.
Although t
VAN WERT - Two months ago St. Marys resident Linda Dorsten stopped working the job she's held for 42 years. She still works at the same plant in Van Wert, but it's work just outside the property line, which now is patrolled by hired guards. Her four-hour shift comes once a week on the picket line.
Related rare illness may be first in state
WAPAKONETA - An Auglaize County toddler remains in serious condition in a Dayton hospital after being diagnosed with E. coli more than a month ago.
A 20-year-old Miami County woman must complete a three-day alcohol treatment program or face three days in jail after appearing Friday afternoon in Mercer County Common Pleas Court.
AKRON - Audrey Harner might have to do some research to look up who Willis Reed is.
Reed, the captain of the 1969-1970 New York Knicks, came back from injury to start Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals and helped the Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the title.
COLUMBUS - The Division III state track meet kicked off Friday with preliminaries in the short races and finals in the field events along with the 3200-meter relays. The finals in the rest of the running events will occur Saturday morning.
COLUMBUS - While the majority of area athletes were participating in the Division III portion of the state track meet, a few other athletes got started in the Division I and Division II meets.