The attorney for Ironton businessman Garry Castle will likely ask the Ohio Supreme Court to appoint a special judge to hear the arson case against him.

Lawrence County prosecutor J.B. Collier Jr. said that Castle’s attorney, D L McWhorter, indicated during a pretrial meeting Wednesday that he would ask for a special judge to replace Common Pleas Judge Richard Walton.

Collier said the Ohio Supreme Court may name a special judge as early as tomorrow.That judge will then schedule a pretrial hearing later schedule the trial.

Castle is charged with first-degree felony arson in connection with the March 28 blaze that gutted his downtown eatery, the Shake Shoppe, located on South Third Street. Teresa Moore/The Ironton Tribune