A judge has ruled on the special prosecutor and his co-counsel in the case against Lake County Sheriff Oscar Martinez for allegedly resisting law enforcement and reckless driving.
Newton County Circuit Court Judge Jeryl Leach, who is presiding over the case, issued a ruling Friday stating that special prosecutor Stanley Levco can remain on the case and appointed David Thomas as co-special prosecutor “for the purpose of assisting the special prosecutor in this case.”
During a hearing last week, Leach approved a three-day jury trial starting April 11, with a pretrial hearing set for March 7. Paul Stracci, one of Martinez’s attorneys, requested a trial date as early as possible because Martinez is on the May Democratic primary ballot seeking reelection.
Martinez has denied the charges and blamed his political opponents.
In October, the Lake County Commissioners sent a letter to Prosecutor Bernard Carter seeking an investigation into the alleged misuse of some of the county’s new police vehicles.
The state charges stem from a Sept. 18 incident in which Crown Point Police officers conducting a traffic stop at about 11:30 p.m. in the 9000 block of Taft Street saw a black SUV traveling northbound on Main Street “at what appeared to be at a speed well above the 45 mph posted limit.”
The SUV continued at this speed onto Taft Street in Merrillville, passing the stopped officers. In seeing the speeding violation, officers attempted to catch up to curb the vehicle, according to a police report.
The report continues, saying the SUV was seen making a right-hand turn onto eastbound U.S. 30 in Merrillville. As officers were catching up to the vehicle, the driver activated emergency red and blue police lights, giving notice that it was an unmarked police car. In seeing the lights, officers stopped trying to catch up.
A Jan. 6 indictment states that Martinez “did knowingly or intentionally flee” from Crown Point police and that he “did recklessly operate a motor vehicle by driving at such an unreasonably high rate of speed as to endanger the safety or property of others.”
During a hearing last week, Michael Woods, one of Martinez’s attorneys, said the case is not “a paper case” with a lot of records to review. Woods also said “there’s nothing particularly complex” about an allegation of a “high-speed chase” and hiring another attorney would be costly.
Levco said during a hearing last week that the defense was “not concerned about money to hire someone new,” referencing the motion to remove him as special prosecutor. Levco also said that the defense filed a lengthy subpoena for about 30 video, audio and document records, which will take time to review.
A motion filed by Martinez’s attorney’s states that a special prosecuting attorney’s duties are to investigate or prosecute and that the court has to set out the length of the special prosecutor’s term.
In this case, the court limited Levco’s duties to representing the state during the investigation “but did not authorize the prosecuting of said charges if warranted,” and the length of Levco’s term has not been determined, according to the motion to strike appearance.
“Levco moved to withdraw as special prosecutor on Jan. 6, 2022, and that motion was granted. Additionally, his enumerated duty to represent the State in the Indiana State Police’s investigation of possible criminal charges ended when that investigation completed with actual criminal charges,” according to the court document.
A petition to appoint a special prosecutor was filed on Sept. 27 because “the relationship between the parties involved is such that there is a conflict of interest unless the Office of the Lake County Prosecutor is disqualified,” according to the court order, and stated a special prosecutor was needed “to avoid a conflict of interest and the appearance of impropriety.”
While Levco did orally move to withdraw and that motion was granted, he still has work to do on the case, according to the court order. The basis for appointing Levco “still exist” and a special prosecutor is still needed in the case, according to the court order.
“There was still work for the special prosecutor to do in his ‘representation of the State of Indiana regarding’ the matter presented by the Lake County Board of Commissioners. As such, Stanley Levco was still acting within the scope of his duties when he entered his appearance in this case,” according to the court order.
Given the request to expedite the case and the numerous subpoenas, the court ruled in favor of appointing co-special prosecutor Thomas.
