Dispatch - Noe facing Aug. 29 trial date
Sunday, March 19, 2006(The Columbus Dispatch)
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Already facing a July 24 trial on federal campaign-finance charges, coin dealer Thomas W. Noe learned yesterday that he is to stand trial a month later on state charges related to his handling of a rare-coin investment.
Judge Thomas J. Osowik, of Lucas County Common Pleas Court, set an Aug. 29 trial date for Noe during a hearing in Toledo.
Noe faces 53 felony charges, including theft and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, from his handling of a $50 million investment for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. Auditors determined more than $13.5 million was misspent.
Noe attorney Jud Scheaf said the defense would have liked to have had a later date because of the complexity of the case and the hundreds of thousands of documents involved but will follow the court’s schedule.
Scheaf said prosecutors have indicated they have four weeks of evidence to present at trial, but added that it’s impossible to know how long the defense might take until lawyers see the evidence in the case.
Osowik set a March 29 pretrial hearing to discuss how the exchange of evidence is proceeding. Officials in the Lucas County prosecutor’s office, part of a task force investigating Noe, couldn’t be reached yesterday.
Noe recently questioned whether he can get a fair trial in Toledo and sought to have all Lucas County judges barred from hearing the case.
He argued in a filing with the Ohio Supreme Court that the Democratic judges on the bench were his political enemies and Republican judges his friends.
But Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer denied the request, saying there is no evidence Osowik has shown bias against Noe that would prevent him from hearing the case with an open mind.
The former Maumee coin dealer also faces three federal charges that he illegally funneled $45,400 to President Bush’s re-election campaign.
The judge in that case expects the trial to last five days.
Scheaf declined to comment when asked whether there have been any discussions about a plea deal.
mniquette@dispatch.com