MANSFIELD — The attorney now representing Bryce Witchey wants more details from prosecutors.
Bernie Davis has filed a motion in Richland County Common Pleas Court seeking a “meaningful bill of particulars” regarding the 31-count indictment against his 28-year-old client returned by a county grand jury in August.
Davis took over Witchey’s defense on Dec. 16 from attorney Rolf Whitney, who recently accepted a magistrate’s role in Morrow County.
In his motion, Davis claimed the bill of particulars from the Richland County Prosecutor’s Office gives “no specifics as to what (Witchey’s) conduct was to allegedly constitute the offense.”
His filing said the prosecutor’s office provided Whitney’s office with the bill of particulars on Sept. 13, a document Davis said simply largely mirrored the indictment.
“Did the defendant create material or performance that shows a minor in a state of nudity? Did defendant direct material or performance? Did defendant produce material or performance? Did defendant transfer material or performance? Etc., etc., etc,” Davis wrote in his court filing.
“Succinctly put, there ain’t no particulars in this so-called ‘Bill of Particulars.’ Merely labeling something as a ‘Bill of Particulars’ does not make it so,” Davis wrote.
He said the bill of particulars “does not spell out one iota of the specific conduct in claims by which the defendant violated the statute charged.”
In his filing, Davis also asked that the prosecution “give adequate notice of his intention to use evidence in chief” that would allow the defense to raise pre-trial objections,” including “relevant written or recorded statements by the defendant” or “written summaries of any oral statement, or copies thereof, made by the defendant.”
(Below is a PDF showing a court filing by defense attorney Bernie Davis seeking additional information into allegations against his client, Bryce Witchey.)
Witchey, initially arrested June 14 by Mansfield police after a woman claimed he was talking to her via social media and seeking sex with her 8-year-old daughter, remains in the Richland County Jail on a $500,000 bond.
Witchey was indicted on 30 counts of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance and a single count of importuning, which was the initial charge levied by Mansfield police when he was arrested.
His jury trial is scheduled Feb. 6, though Davis has also filed for a continuance, telling Judge Brent Robinson the case against his client “is very complex … involving a number of legal and factual issues which need to be investigated.”
In December, the District V Forensic Center ruled Witchey was competent to stand trial. Davis has asked for an independent evaluation of his client. Whitney had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity for his client.
Robinson has not ruled on these motions.
A “final pre-trial hearing” was conducted Monday.
Witchey has previously waived his right to a speedy trial.
