The Court of Common Pleas will decide today if two Columbus juveniles, accused of committing aggravated robbery and felony murder in Athens County, will face trial in Franklin County.
Prosecutors say Mohat Osman and Abdifatah Abdi accompanied Phillip Boler and Hamda Jama on an armed raid of Billy Osborne's New Marshfield trailer in February. The raid, which was reportedly orchestrated to collect $13,000 Osborne owed them for cocaine, turned into a shootout that killed Donnie Putnam.
Attorneys for 17-year-olds Osman and Abdi filed the motion to change the venue two weeks ago. Judge Michael Ward agreed to hear arguments about changing Osman's trial to Franklin County, but said he would not consider Abdi's motion until after the completion of Osman's trial, which is
scheduled to begin first on August 3.
Abdi's trial is scheduled to begin August 24.
Larry Thomas, who represents Osman, said in his motion that pretrial media coverage of the incident will keep his client from getting a fair trial and make it presumptively impossible to seat an impartial jury in this county.
The local media immediately took interest in this case and reported every event daily
Thomas wrote in his motion. The overwhelming majority of the media's coverage of this case has been negative for the defendant.
He also attached 16 pages of news stories following the investigation and promised during the initial hearing to provide more.
Boler also requested to move his trial to Franklin County, but was unsuccessful. He was tried and convicted of aggravated robbery and felony murder in June and was sentenced to 28 years to life in prison. He has since appealed his conviction.
Jama's trial is scheduled for September.
Should Ward move the proceedings, the county will have to pay to transport prosecutors, witnesses and Ward himself to Franklin County for the trial.
Thomas argued during the initial hearing on the motion that circumstances have changed since Boler's motion, because the media has already covered one trial related to his client's.
Abdi's attorney, Isabelle Thomas said that her client would face even more dire circumstance, because by the time of his trial, two defendants will have already been tried.
Defendants have a right to be fairly tried in a public tribunal free of prejudice passion excitement and tyrannical power Thomas wrote in the motion, citing case law where convictions had been overturned because of media coverage.
Thomas added later in his motion that though the defendant must prove the need for changing venue, the judge may order a switch when community hostility may be established by inflammatory publicity
adding that prejudice is presumed when media coverage is
so inflammatory that it pervades
the community where the trial is to be held.
Abdi and Osman are both charged with two counts of aggravated robbery and felony murder. All of these charges are first-degree felonies and they could each spend 38 years to life in prison if convicted if all charges.
Two witnesses for the prosecution in this case also appeared in court Tuesday. Billy Osborne, whose trailer was allegedly raided in February, may have reached a plea agreement on unrelated drug charges, and John Perry II scheduled his jury trial for tampering with evidence and perjury charges related to the shootout.
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Frank Thomas
