Judge examines Lima man’s request to withdraw plea

LIMA – The recurring criminal case of Anthony Houston, accused of aggravated burglary with the use of a firearm and also a violent repeat offender, is again in pre-trial detention.

Allen County Judge Terri Kohlrieser on Thursday took under advisement a motion filed by the new Houston attorney to allow the Lima man to withdraw his previous no-contest plea and proceed to court. judgement.

The move follows a hearing in which Houston took the witness stand and said he felt pressured by his former lawyer, Marcus Moll, to make a clear case on July 19 this year – the first day of his jury trial.

Moll has since taken up a magistrate’s post in Warren County and appeared at Thursday’s hearing via Zoom. Carroll Creighton of the Allen County Public Defenders Office currently represents Houston.

Houston, 41, testified that Moll advised him not to contest the charges as the trial began when it was learned that two men linked to the crime – Jordan Crowder and Charles Oberlin – intended not to cooperate at trial and avoid being served with subpoenas.

Kohlrieser that day had listened to three phone calls that Houston had made from prison which she said had made it “very clear” to me that Houston had threatened Crowder to avoid law enforcement officials who were attempting to serve a subpoena for testimony at trial. Oberlin has never been located.

Creighton said the sudden turn of events left Houston “little time to make a decision” on the case, which he said was “a reasonable and legitimate reason to withdraw its plea.”

“I never wanted to make any deal to start with,” Houston told the judge Thursday. “He (Moll) told me to plead without challenge.”

Moll said he had met Houston on several occasions and was “very ready” to stand trial. “We had very in-depth conversations beforehand. It was (Houston’s) decision to enter a plea on July 19, Moll said.

The Allen County Assistant District Attorney felt Houston was just going through “a change of mind” about his plea.

According to court documents, a Lima police officer was on his way to the 800 block of North Elizabeth Street around 8:30 p.m. on November 4 last year when he heard a cry for help. He saw a man, later identified as Oberlin, running down the street behind him. Oberlin said a black man – later identified as Houston – had just entered his residence with a gun. Crowder was seen on the street from Oberlin’s residence, court records show. Crowder told police he ran inside the residence, but the man followed him with a gun, hitting him in the head with the gun.