MIAMI COUNTY — A Miami County judge ruled on motions inside the courtroom Monday afternoon ahead of Caleb Flynn’s murder trial.
The motions asked the court not to allow victims to be recorded during the trial and for the court to allow victims to be present during the trial.
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Judge Jeanine Pratt heard arguments on the separation of witnesses from both the defense and the state but will make her final decision in writing before the trial.
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The judge’s ruling is focused on three people from Ashley Flynn’s family and how much of the trial they’ll be able to sit in on in person.
Separation of witnesses means that witnesses cannot come into the courtroom during the trial before they’re called to testify — and they cannot share details of their testimony with other witnesses who haven’t taken the stand yet.
Typically, both the defense and state get one exception to the list. For example, one witness can be in the courtroom the entire trial, even before they testify.
The state wants not just one person, but a total of four people in the courtroom, including Ashley Flynn’s father, mother, sister, and brother-in-law.
All of them are on the list of potential witnesses for the state, and the state wants all four adults to be able to be in the courtroom for the entire trial. The defense does not.
The defense does not want a witness who has not taken the stand yet to hear someone else’s testimony and have an impact on their own testimony.
Whether or not news organizations can record court proceedings was also discussed. The state and defense attorneys, along with an attorney for the local news organizations, agreed that the juveniles will not be shown on video during their testimony, but can record the audio of their testimony. Also, all agreed that the adults can be shown on video and audio.
Jury selection is scheduled to start in Flynn’s murder trial on Thursday morning, Sept. 17, and you can expect WHIO-TV in the courtroom.
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