Sudderth attorney: Trial may be postponed
Published 12:00 am Friday, August 3, 2007
A trial date has been set in an Ironton shooting death case, but the defense attorney said Wednesday it is likely the trial will have to be postponed.
Isaiah Sudderth, 25, of Columbus, is scheduled to stand trial Sept. 4 in connection with the death of Damon Pringle, 31, of Ironton. But Sudderth’s attorney, Roger Smith, said some of the evidence in the case is still being evaluated.
“We’re still waiting for autopsy results and ballistics results,” Smith said.
Smith was appointed recently to replace Warren Morford as Sudderth’s court-appointed attorney since Morford is also the court-appointed attorney in the Jason Mooney murder case.
Sudderth was arrested June 18 and charged with murder. He is accused of shooting Pringle five times at the 10th Street home of Sudderth’s girlfriend, Kimberly Sammons. Sudderth contended he acted in self-defense after Pringle had assaulted him.
In other matters, an Ironton man pleaded no contest Wednesday to one count of sexual battery. Scott Dilley, 27, of 50 Township Road 1214, Ironton, will be sentenced Sept. 5. In exchange for his guilty plea, a charge of rape was dismissed. The victim was a female juvenile. Dilley faces up to five years in prison for the crime.
Also Wednesday, Paul A. Rockel, 27, of 7174 State Route 243, Ironton, pleaded guilty to one count of burglary. Lawrence County Common Pleas Judge Richard Walton sentenced Rockel to four years community controlled sanctions under intensive supervised probation and ordered him to successfully complete a rehabilitation program at the STAR Criminal Justice Center. Rockel must also make restitution to his victim.