Hogans’ trial continued to January

By TONY FYFFE

BSN Editor

LEXINGTON — A judge last week granted a continuance in the federal trial of Lawrence County Attorney Michael Hogan and his wife, Joy, on wire fraud charges.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove rescheduled the Hogans’ Aug. 16 trial date to Jan. 18, 2022, and also declared the case complex.

Lawyers for the Hogans filed a joint motion last week asking that the case be declared complex and that their August trial date be continued.

The motion requested that the trial date be continued for at least 90 days and that all pre-trial filing deadlines be reset relative to the new trial date.

The motion said one factor a judge can consider when granting a trial continuance is whether the case is “so unusual or so complex, due to…the nature of the prosecution…that it is unreasonable to expect adequate preparation for pretrial proceedings or for the trial itself within the time limit established by this section.”

Another “appropriate reason” for granting a delay is to give defense attorneys additional time to prepare “an unusually complex case,” the motion says.

The case against the Hogans “satisfies each of these requirements,” the motion says.

Michael and Joy Hogan are charged in a 10-count indictment “alleging a complex wire fraud scheme involving delinquent tax and child support payments managed by the Lawrence County Attorney’s Office,” the motion says.

“The nature and propriety of these payments may turn on various provisions of state law, requiring the retention of an expert to review the case materials,” the motion says. “As such, these issues could present a ‘novel question...of fact or law’ requiring additional time for ‘preparation for pretrial proceedings or for the trial itself[.]’”

The motion noted that discovery materials in the case are “voluminous.”

“Undersigned counsel recently received the government’s first discovery disclosure comprising more than 15 gigabytes of electronic data including case reports, bank records, and other materials,” the motion says. “The government also has indicated it intends to provide supplemental discovery in the coming weeks.”

The motion was filed July 6 by Jarrod J. Beck and John David Cole Jr., attorneys for Michael Hogan, and Mark A. Wohlander, lawyer for Joy Hogan.

Van Tatenhove granted the motion Thursday.