Should the documents filed as part of the Oakhill Renaissance case be made public?
That was the focus of a day-long hearing Monday in court.
Lawyers for the defendants, as well as the team of special prosecutors and an attorney for the Youngstown Vindicator, argued back and forth over whether or not the filings should be released to the media -- and then ultimately be printed or broadcast.
The ultimate issue came down to the defendants being able to get a fair trial in Mahoning County and the media's right to know.
Attorney Marian Little, who represents The Vindicator, argued "the defendant certainly has the right to a fair trial, but the public has a right of access to these proceedings."
However, Attorney Martin Weinberg, one of the lawyers for Anthony Cafaro, Sr., insisted the media "have no first amendment or common law presumptive access right" to the information contained in the pretrial documents, arguing many of them "[are] not required to be filed with the court," but could simply be shared by the attorneys.
The defendants include two members of the Cafaro mall-development family and several of their companies, as well as a number of current and former local officeholders.
Their attorneys claim releasing all of the documents would hurt the defense's ability to have the trial held here in Mahoning County.
The lawyer for The Vindicator argued the case should be moved to another county if needed to guarantee the media's access to the information.
New details state that visiting Judge William Wolff is expected to unseal some documents today (Tuesday) to the media.
Check back here throughout the day, or tune into our newscasts for the latest information on this developing story.
