Men cleared in case in which attorney failed to appear

Two men whose rape trial was interrupted after the attorney for one of them failed to show up in court last month were acquitted Monday when the alleged victims told prosecutors they would not make the trip from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh again.

Ricardo Campbell and his codefendant, Dwayne Facey, were scheduled for the continuation of a non-jury rape trial before Common Pleas Judge Philip A. Ignelzi on Monday. The case began with testimony in the summer and had been continued until Nov. 22.

The alleged victims were in court that day, but Mr. Campbell’s attorney, Chris Urbano, was not. He was in North Carolina and said he was unable to catch a flight back in time for court.

The next day, Judge Ignelzi held a contempt hearing for Mr. Urbano and ordered him to jail. Mr. Urbano spent five days in the Allegheny County Jail and was released Nov. 28 under an agreement that he would have drug and alcohol and behavior clinic evaluations. A review hearing on the contempt count is scheduled for February.

In the meantime, the criminal case against Mr. Campbell and Mr. Facey was scheduled to reconvene on Monday.

But assistant district attorney John Fitzgerald told the court that when he spoke to the alleged victims, they said that it would be their eighth trip to Pittsburgh in the history of the case.

“They indicated they couldn’t bear it again,” Mr. Fitzgerald said. “The victims were here on [Nov.] 22 when Mr. Urbano did not come

to the trial that day.”

The prosecutor asked for a postponement to see whether additional time might help.

“They have affirmatively stated to you they’re not coming?” Judge Ignelzi said.

“Yes,” Mr. Fitzgerald answered.

Defense attorneys for both defendants said there should not be a postponement. The judge agreed.

“There is no reasonable expectation that any further delay will lead to this trial going forward,” he said.

He found the men not guilty on all counts against them.

Carl Parise, the attorney representing Mr. Urbano in the contempt case, had no comment on the rape case.

A spokesman for the district attorney’s office said the office would review the record to see what action, if any, might be taken.