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Trial scheduled Nov. 17 against former Akron executive indicted on 147 counts
By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Oct 07, 2008
A special prosecutor from the Ohio Attorney General's Office has taken over as lead counsel in the Summit County case accusing former Evergreen Corp. President David B. Willan of widespread mortgage and securities fraud.
Willan, 38, was charged by Summit County prosecutors in December, along with others, in a 147-count indictment alleging Akron-area mortgage and securities violations, money laundering, theft and other felony allegations.
Willan is scheduled for trial Nov. 17 before retired Common Pleas Judge James E. Murphy, who is handling the case by appointment as a visiting judge.
Meanwhile, in the aftermath of Murphy's decision last month to release potentially exonerating state investigative records to the defense, Special Prosecutor Bradley L. Tammaro of the attorney general's office confirmed in an interview from Columbus on Monday that he is now lead counsel in the case.
The potentially exonerating records were from the investigative files of the Ohio Department of Securities, and the two sides battled over their release during a Sept. 17 meeting in Murphy's chambers.
After that meeting, Murphy ordered the records released to the defense and followed up with a written judgment entry saying the Division of Securities file consisted of ''29 individual manila folders containing records, documents, notes, etc.''
Willan's lawyer, William T. Whitaker, said he believes much of the state's file ''contains information that establishes that Evergreen and David Willan complied with every aspect of the law.''
Whitaker said he could not comment on details in those records because Murphy ruled they were confidential and cannot be released publicly except for potential use at trial.
Tammaro, the special prosecutor, said the Division of Securities file ''has nothing to do with the criminal case '' and will not have any effect on the trial.
Asked why the two sides battled over release of the records in the Sept. 17 meeting with the judge, Tammaro reiterated his position.
''I'm going to litigate the case, and I don't see where it has any effect whatsoever,'' Tammaro said.
Citing Murphy's confidentiality order, Tammaro also said he could not discuss any details in the records.
Cheryl R. Hawkinson, the lawyer from the attorney general's office who was at the Sept. 17 meeting, said a total of 23 documents — a small portion of the state file — were turned over to the defense.
In the days immediately following the meeting, Hawkinson said the Division of Securities was considering an appeal of Murphy's decision to release the records, which could have delayed Willan's Nov. 17 trial date.
But Tammaro said on Monday there will be no appeal.
Mary Ann Kovach, chief counsel for the Summit County Prosecutor's Office, said Tammaro is in charge of a portion of the case pertaining to allegations of securities fraud. But other parts of the trial still will be handled by assistant county prosecutors Colleen Sims and Richard Hoenigman, who have worked on the case since its inception, Kovach said.
Kovach said Sims does not feel the records in the Division of Securities file are favorable to the defense.
''She was not real concerned about it,'' Kovach said.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
A special prosecutor from the Ohio Attorney General's Office has taken over as lead counsel in the Summit County case accusing former Evergreen Corp. President David B. Willan of widespread mortgage and securities fraud.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Posted 08:32 AM, 10/07/2008
This is exactly why Walsh needs to GO. She has to use special Prosecutors constantly. That office is in shambles and we need someone like Nancy Morrison who is willing to come into the office and do the job we elect her to do. This Evergreen case has been a disaster from day one. Maybe if Walsh were more in touch with how an actual courtroom works instead of being out there campaigning and bragging about endorsementd she won because only one candidate was invited to the endorsement process, we would be prepared to save taxpayer money and handle the case ourselves. I think it's time we look to new leadership in Nancy Morrison. Knowing that Walsh has her staff monitoring this forum lets see them start accusing me of being part of the Morrison campaign which I am not. VOTE NANCY MORRISON
Posted 12:42 PM, 10/07/2008
What do you want from an ex-workers comp attorney. the rairly see the inside of a court room much less court litigation.
Posted 03:36 PM, 10/07/2008
A lot of mistakes has been made in the Evergreen case, by both sides.
