By Wayne Gates –
As the trial for Thomas Sawyers approaches, three motions in the case remain to be decided.
Common Pleas Judge Scott Gusweiler is expected to rule on the motions before the Sawyers trial begins on Jan. 22.
Attorney David Grimes has asked Gusweiler not to allow “Anything related to Melissa Boling” as evidence in the case because her name is “irrelevant to all counts in the indictment.”
In a response from the Brown County Prosecutor’s Office filed on Jan, 16, Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Breyer responded that evidence regarding Boling is central to the case.
“The State of Ohio intends to prove through circumstantial evidence that the defendant (Sawyers) engaged in trafficking in drugs with Melissa Boling and that he used her addiction to coerce her into having sex with him when she otherwise would not have done so. As such, evidence regarding Melissa Boling is directly relevant to proving the charges contained in the indictment.”
