The attorney for a Leesburg man charged with numerous sex-related offenses with a minor said on Monday that the defense is seeking more documentation in regard to the victim.
Hal Arenstein, defense attorney for 41-year-old Paul E. Seitz Jr., in a hearing in Highland County Common Pleas Court specifically requested records from other agencies that pertain to the victim.
Judge Rocky Coss noted the vagueness of the motion that was filed, one named on the docket as a motion to preserve evidence.
According to the document filed with the court in June, the defense was requesting “the preservation of any and all evidence available.” Another motion filed requested that the court determine the defendant’s rights to access documentation pertaining to the victim from other agencies.
“Access to these records is necessary,” the motion reads, because it is believed the information would be “favorable to the defense.”
“He didn’t exactly say what he wants,” prosecutor Anneka Collins said of the motions filed with the court. If Arenstein had been clearer, she said, she would have tried to provide the appropriate documentation on Monday.
Collins told the judge that the state had already provided its discovery.
She previously said that the state shares all it has with the defense, not holding back any information.
Seitz was charged in June, in a previously sealed indictment, with first-degree felony rape, third-degree felony sexual battery, and 25 counts of fourth-degree felony pandering obscenity involving a minor.
His next pretrial is set for August.
In another hearing, judicial release was granted to Aubrey Shayne Barnhill, 24, of Leesburg.
Barnhill was initially convicted in August by a guilty plea to illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacture of drugs, a third-degree felony. A 24-month prison sentence was imposed in September.
According to the plea agreement, the state would not oppose judicial release to STAR after six months of incarceration.
Barnhill will remain in prison until going to the STAR program.
Reach Angela Shepherd at 937-393-3456, ext. 1681, or on Twitter @wordyshepherd.
