×

Rape trial to begin on March 13

STEUBENVILLE – The trial for two Steubenville High School student-athletes charged with rape is scheduled to begin March 13 in the juvenile courtroom at the Jefferson County Justice Center, will last at least three days and may go into the weekend.

Media representatives met with juvenile court officials Wednesday to discuss coverage of the upcoming trial before visiting Judge Tom Lipps.

Trent Mays, 16, of Bloomingdale and Ma’Lik Richmond, 16, of Steubenville have been charged with rape in connection with an incident that allegedly happened Aug. 11-12. Mays also faces a charge of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material for allegedly having a picture of the victim in an outgoing text message on his cell phone. Attorneys for both defendants have denied the charges.

The Ohio Attorney General’s Office is expected to call 28 witnesses, according to a juvenile court official. An attorney representing one of the defendants may call about a dozen witnesses. Attorneys for the other defendant haven’t filed a witness list with the court.

Juvenile court will require television stations to use one pool camera.

Lipps during the probable cause hearing asked witnesses, both juvenile and adult, if they wanted to be videotaped or audio recorded. Nearly all the witnesses said they didn’t want to the taped.

The trial will begin at 10:30 a.m. on March 13 and 9 a.m. on March 14 and March 15. The court officials said Lipps intends to stay in court until at least 6 p.m. to get the case finished. The judge is willing to stay until Saturday or even Sunday, if necessary.

Lipps is expected to immediately rule on the guilt or innocence of the defendants.

A court official said if the teens are found guilty, they will be taken into custody and placed in juvenile detention. They have been released on house arrest since the probable cause hearing in November. Lipps also may impose sentencing at that time.

Attorney Walter Madison is representing Richmond, and attorneys Brian Duncan and Adam Nemann are representing Mays.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today