Murder trial in two fatal fires delayed

Whether Stanley Ford has one or two trials for the fatal fires he is accused of setting, he won’t have his day in court until next year.

A Summit County judge agreed Friday to delay the start of the capital murder trial, set to begin with jury selection in early August, until mid-January.

Judge Christine Croce also heard arguments about whether Ford should have separate trials for the arson fires that claimed nine lives. Defense attorneys claim Ford’s right to a fair trial would be prejudiced by deciding the two death penalty cases together.

“When dealing with the death penalty, death is different,” said Scott Rilley, one of Ford’s attorneys. “The law requires more due process. A death penalty case is not business and usual.”

Prosecutors, however, say cases involving defendants charged with multiple offenses are routinely tried in Summit County Common Pleas Court. They also said there are similarities between the fires that tie them together, but separate evidence for each incident that would make it easy for jurors to distinguish them.

Croce said she hasn’t yet been able to find a death penalty case in which the issue for the need for separate trials arose. She hasn’t yet ruled on this issue.

Ford, 59, was indicted last July on 29 charges, including 22 counts of aggravated murder for the nine fire deaths. The murder charges involve different parts of the law under which Ford was charged.

Investigators say Ford set three fires in his neighborhood, with two people killed in one fire and seven perishing in another, including five children. The third was a car fire with no injuries.

Ford is being held in the Summit County Jail without bond.