- Defense attorney abruptly withdraws from murder case, causing entire jury panel to be dismissed and trial delay.
CLEVELAND (Court TV) — After prospective jurors arrived at the courthouse four days in a row for jury selection, an entire panel was dismissed Thursday after a defense attorney suddenly withdrew from a murder case—forcing a trial delay.
Gregory Moore, 52, an attorney himself, has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping and conspiracy in the death of his client, Aliza Sherman. Moore was a divorce attorney and was representing Sherman; on the day of her death, the victim received a message luring her to the law office, where she was chased down and stabbed more than 10 times.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin on Monday, but was delayed by a series of defense motions. First, the defense asked for a Daubert hearing to examine experts, but the court denied it. Then, the defense asked for a continuance, and the court denied it. The defense filed a motion to disqualify the prosecution, which was denied, along with multiple motions to dismiss the case entirely.
By Thursday morning, it appeared jury selection was going to begin — but then the lead attorney for Moore’s defense, John Paul Rion, filed a motion to withdraw from the case entirely. The motion said only that Rion wanted to withdraw; a second document with his reasoning was filed under seal and is not publicly available…