Allegations of withholding evidence were lodged against the state in its case against a former high school coach that could lead to a request to dismiss the case.
Christopher Lawrence, defense attorney for Zachary Gibson, went through the history of the case against his client, highlighting the fact that the state had phone dumps and witness interviews that as of Thursday had not been turned over.
Wood County Assistant Prosecutor Charles McDonald said his office was attempting to provide the missing material but was having issues getting into a format that could be shared.
Gibson, 31, appeared Thursday in the courtroom of Wood County Common Pleas Judge Joel Kuhlman.
He is a former strength coach who worked at Bowling Green High School. He has been accused of allegedly engaging in sexual conduct with a 16-year-old while he worked with the baseball and basketball teams at BGHS.
McDonald said the state had extended an informal plea offer the day before but needed to comply with Marsy’s Law before making it public.
Marsy’s Law requires alleged victims to be notified of specific public proceedings throughout the criminal justice process and to be present and heard during those proceedings.
McDonald said he was willing to formalize the offer.
Co-defense attorney Sara Roller said she provided a counteroffer on Nov. 29 and had received no response until Dec. 19 and neither she nor Lawrence had had a chance to review it.
She said she and Lawrence had learned there were items mentioned by the detective in discovery that have not been turned over to them.
“The state is responsible for not only themselves as well as for the detective on the case to turn over what they have,” she said.
Lawrence said the defense has been forced to request numerous continuances of the trial as evidence from the state has not been shared in a timely manner.
“The theme of this entire case is delay, delay, delay,” he said.
Today, 25 days away from trial, and the state again tells us it has more discovery it hasn’t disclosed that has been in its possession since April 2023, he said.
“Delays and disclosure seems to be the modus operandi of the State of Ohio,” he said.
Gibson needs to decide to proceed to trial without all of the evidence or sit in jail for several more months if the trial is continued, Lawrence said.
The purpose of the rules of discovery is to provide speedy justice and remove gamesmanship at trial to prevent a surprise favorable to one party, he said.
He said he could make an oral motion to dismiss the case due to the state’s behavior, but he won’t at this time. He did, however, cite a Henry County case that was dismissed because requirements for providing pretrial evidence and material were not met.
Instead, Lawrence asked for an amendment to bond that will allow Gibson to live in Ada with a relative while wearing a GPS monitor.
“He is innocent of any crime at this point in time,” Lawrence said.
Gibson was arrested April 13 and remains in jail on a $200,000 bond. He has been charged with rape, sexual battery, gross sexual imposition, illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor, disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, importuning and illegal administration of anabolic steroids.
The three rapes alleged occurred on July 2-3, 2021, when he allegedly engaged in sexual conduct with the same boy, who was 15 at the time, while the boy was unconscious due to alcohol consumption.
He also is accused of possessing or viewing material or performance that showed a minor in a state of nudity; creating, photographing, reproducing or publishing material that showed a minor participating or engaging in sexual activity or masturbation; soliciting another boy who was 15 years old at the time to engage in sex; and providing a juvenile with liquid anabolic steroids.
McDonald said he was new to the case but that was no excuse for not providing the items the defense has said it is entitled to.
McDonald took over the case from Dexter Phillips, who is now an assistant United States attorney in Toledo.
“The state does not believe that a remedy … is a modification of bond,” he said.
He said office staff were working on the list of requested items as he spoke, but he didn’t know how long it would take.
Kuhlman agreed multiple continuances have been granted, mostly on behalf of the defense based in part on not receiving all discovery.
Wood County Prosecuting Attorney Paul Dobson was asked about the allegations of withholding evidence.
In cases where there is a great deal of documentation and material, it has occurred where a few items are overlooked as information is exchanged between police agencies and the prosecutor’s office or the prosecutor’s office and defense counsel, he said. This can be exacerbated when a prosecutor takes over a case from another who has left the office, as happened here.
“In these rare situations, we take responsibility for collecting any missing information and disclosing it to the defense as soon as possible,” he said.
When faced with an allegation that the defense has not received discovery material, our first priority is to ensure that any allegedly missing information gets to them, not to determine whether their claims are accurate, Dobson said. The staff of this office has been working with the investigating agency to provide everything the defense believes it does not have. Once that is accomplished, we will audit our discovery responses to determine if any of the information had not been previously provided.
As the judge noted, the defense has filed no motions to compel discovery or anything suggesting that the state was refusing to provide material or being uncooperative in their responses, Dobson said.
The provision of the few items will occur in what should be plenty of time for defense to be fully prepared for trial. We anticipate opposing any motion to continue the trial and any request for a modification of bond, he said.
A modification of bond will be discussed on Jan. 4 as well as any motions to compel outstanding discovery.
A two-week trial is scheduled to start Jan. 16.
