After a three-hour meeting of attorneys in judge’s chambers on Wednesday, Oster ruled the defense will have additional time to file evidence supporting the possibility of a new trial. A new hearing date was set for Feb. 28.
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Young’s sentencing was first set for November, but Young’s attorney, Daniel Haughey, requested a continuance so that the judge could consider more than 20 letters of support for Young that have been turned over to the court.
Young faces up to 4½ years in prison.
In December, Haughey showed up in court along with attorneys Chris Pagan and Jacob Long and filed a motion to request a new trial based on evidence that was not reviewed or used by the defense attorney at trial.
While such a motion must by filed within 14 days of conviction, the attorneys argued the bases for their argument for a new trial had just come to light.
Oster will first need to decide if he will permit the motion to be filed outside the legal time frame. Then a formal motion for a new trial can be considered.
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He is housed in the Butler County Jail awaiting the decision.
In a December motion, Pagan provided an affidavit from Haughey indicating a photo of the victim topless time stamped Nov. 7, 2017, was found by a detective who examined cell phone data for the trial
The photo “was close in time with the text message the court relied upon in convicting Dustin for his offenses,” Haughey said in the document.
Prosecutors said the photo had been provided to the defense as part of evidence for trial.
“Over the weekend, I reviewed the discovery and found the photograph which I had not seen before,” Haughey said. “Because I was unaware of the photograph, I did not consider it while consulting with Dustin regarding defense theories or for impeachment. I believe the photograph is probative of the gross sexual imposition and abduction offense.”
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“Clearly if such an image had been sent by the victim to defendant, he would have known that and would have instructed his attorneys to look for it (despite his being repeatedly asked to describe flirtatious texts during his interview with Hamilton Police and he never once indicated that he had seen or been sent topless pictures by the victim - he stated that the victim would only ever show pictures of herself in underwear and bra but did not send them)” Butler County Assistant Prosecutor Kelly Heile wrote in a motion.
Young, who was a sergeant, resigned from the department on Jan. 11, ending his 15-year career.
Young pulled the woman into his lap and touched her crotch and pinned her against a locker, according to court records. The crimes occurred between Aug. 1 and Nov. 12, 2016, according to the indictment.
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