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l-lilClwnteh Til«»w—Gag order in rape case ] could set a precedentBy BETH BOYD C-T Staff WriterLORAIN — A Lorain Municipal Court case which initially drew no interest from the media became what could be a precedent for the area when Judge Robert Ewers issued a gag order on publication or broadcast of the suspect and victim.The Lorain Journal and local radio stations WLRO and WEOL were issued a temporary restraining order last week by a court baliff.The C-T was not issued the order because Lorain is not in its primary circulation area, Ewers saidJack W Bradley, attorney for Joe Patton, 26, of 2511 Washington Ave., Lorain, accused of raping an 18-year-old Lorain woman, asked for the suppression order, the judge said.ACCORDING TO state statute, upon request of the victim or the offender, the judge shall order the names of the parties and details of the alleged offense as obtained by any law enforcement officer be suppressed until the preliminaryhearingBradley said the judge should not have issued a temporary restraining order but merely informed court employees not to release the names“I may not have worded it as correctly as it should have been,”Ewers admitted. But the judge said I he felt “It was a mistake** not to j restrain other area radio stations.Ewers said this case was the first , time he ever issued a gag order to the media.The gag order was lifted after Patton waived his preliminary hearing Thursday afternoon. The case against him will be considered by the next session of the Lorain County Grand Jury.PATTON IS accused of raping an 18-year-old woman Aug. 3 in her West 23rd Street homeBradley said be advised his defendant, who pleaded innocent to the felony, to waive the preliminary hearing because he felt the case would dismissed by the grand jury.Ewers said he understands Bradley intends to request a suppression order on every rape caseVisiting Municipal Court Judge John Otero, Jr, reduced Patton’s bond originally set at $10,000 to $2,500 cash.Patton is also facing an assault charge from an April 11 incident where he allegedly assaulted Thomas Gregory of 1719 New Jersey Ave.Bradley asked the judge to continue Patton's pre-trial until Sept 24 Bond on the assault case was set at $500Patton is out on bail
Newspaper Details
The Chronicle Telegram
Elyria, Ohio, US
Fri, Aug 14, 1981
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Nathan O.
OH, USA 12 Apr 2022
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