Trial for Bogle's suspected killer goes dark

FREMONT — Daniel Myers' capital murder trial in the 2015 death of Heather Bogle was delayed indefinitely Wednesday morning by Sandusky County Common Pleas Court Judge John Dewey.Dewey's ruling means the trial, delayed twice already, won't start next week as previously scheduled.The judge gave no explanation for the latest delay. He also issued a secret gag order on prosecutors and defense attorneys, and sealed records explaining why he took that action. Myers, 49, is accused of brutally killing Bogle, 28, in April 2015. He was arrested in May of 2017. Her death became the highest-profile homicide case in Sandusky County in decades and drew keen interest from the public. The Register requested copies of Dewey's rulings, which were not accessible in a search of the courthouse's record system. An employee in the clerk's office at the courthouse on Wednesday told a Register reporter both motions were sealed and not available to view.Judge Dewey's rulings on Wednesday will keep the public in the dark as the trial goes forward, if it goes forward. David Marburger, a Cleveland lawyer and expert in First Amendment law said he was astonished when he learned the court has issued a secret order and has concealed the grounds for that order."We do not know what the gag order prohibits. That is extraordinary," Marburger said. "The order sealing it prevents the public from even knowing what the gag order says. It prohibits the public from knowing the grounds for sealing the record."Dewey's decision to keep everything secret could diminish the public's confidence in the court, Marburger said."Keeping the public in the dark about these things is extremely rare. For a court to seal a litigants' motion that asks the court for some relief virtually never happens. It is so rare. It is even more rare, even more extraordinary for the court to seal its own order where the order directs other people to do certain things, in this case ordering the lawyers not to speak. We don't know what the gag order says. We don't know how far reaching it is."The most outrageous part of all of this is the court's own secrecy about its own order, about the request for the order and the claimed grounds for the order, all of that is secret. All of it is being withheld from the public, in a case, I presume, the public has an acute interest in.Heather Bogle"The whole idea of the judicial system is to adjudicate in a public way. The reason for that is so the public can have great confidence that judges are resolving disputes without favoritism, without improper use of power, and thoughtfully. That's why we are willing to take our disputes to the courts because we believe, through its own transparency, that judges dispense justice transparently, without prejudices or favoritism."If the judge is going to seal from the public what it has ordered and why it has ordered it that can only diminish public confidence in the courts." Sandusky County Prosecutor Tim Braun said, per the gag order, he couldn't comment on why the trial was delayed or the order issued. Braun did say another court hearing is tentatively scheduled for late November.Myers' trial was originally supposed to start in May, and then in September before being pushed back to October.One member of Bogle's family said he was frustrated by the delay, and the court's secrecy about its reason."(Myers) keeps getting delays and additional chances," said Josh Feasel, Heather Bogle's younger brother. "My sister didn't get any second chance. There was no delay in what happened to her."Dewey's decision to block public access to trial proceedings led to speculation about what might be transpiring. Prior to a court hearing Oct. 3, prosecutors thought Myers was ready to accept a plea deal that would have taken the death penalty off the table. That hearing was delayed for more than an hour while defense attorneys met with Myers in a holding cell outside the courtroom, and later met with Braun and Dewey in the judge's chambers twice before it became clear there would be no plea deal.One source told the Register Myers refused to admit guilt and rejected the plea offer.Defense attorneys also said during the Oct. 3 hearing that they did not intend to present testimony from experts who interviewed Myers, and prosecutors asked the court to make the findings of those examinations available to them. It's unclear who those experts are, and what they concluded. Editor's note: Managing editor Matt Westerhold contributed to this story. Reach reporter Brandon Addeo at brandonaddeo@sanduskyregister.com, follow him on Twitter @BrandonAddeo and follow the Register at Facebook.com/SanduskyRegisterDaniel Myers (center) listens to attorney Jane Roman (right), and stands alongside attorney Merle Dech (left) Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2018, in Sandusky County Common Pleas Court.