A Lackawanna County judge denied defense attorneys’ requests to move the trial of two men charged in the shooting of Scranton police Detective Kyle Gilmartin out of the county.
Judge Michael Barrasse on July 2 rejected the request for change of venue without prejudice, saying the court could address the matter again if it comes up during jury selection. The request to move the trial was made on the grounds of pretrial publicity.
Aiden Deininger, 21, of Old Forge, is charged with three counts of attempted murder of law enforcement officers and other violations. Jeremiah Cleveland, 20, of Mayfield, faces criminal solicitation and gun charges in connection with two related shootings. Deininger was 20 and Cleveland was 19 in January 2024 when Gilmartin was shot.
Aiden Deininger
Jeremiah Cleveland, 19, of 817 Walnut Street in Mayfield, talks to the media as he is escorted out of the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Dunmore on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. (CHRISTOPHER DOLAN / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Arguing for separate trials
The judge also denied a request that the trials be severed, or held separately.
Terry McDonald, Cleveland’s defense attorney, argued in March for a separate trial, referencing Cleveland’s livestream on Instagram at the time of the shooting, which shows he was miles away from the scene.
McDonald took issue with the district attorney’s assertion that Cleveland sent Deininger to the 500 block of North Decker Court, where he shot Gilmartin while he sat in a police vehicle.
Instead, Cleveland simply said “400 Hyde Park,” repeating what someone else posted to the Instagram livestream, McDonald said.
He pointed out the address does not exist and wasn’t close to the area where the shooting took place.
During that hearing, Deputy District Attorney Sara Varela pointed out that Cleveland is charged with criminal solicitation and not attempted murder of a police officer.
“There would be no jury confusion,” she said, adding that Cleveland is not charged with attempting to kill Gilmartin.
In a memorandum accompanying his ruling denying separate trials, Barrasse wrote, “Although there may exist a hostility between the two co-defendants or one may try to save himself at the expense of the other, it does not rise to the level to support severing the trials of Defendant and Deininger. Moreover, the amount of evidence and testimony anticipated to be presented at trial appears to be voluminous and conducting a joint rather than separate trials will serve to promote judicial economy.”
Arguing for change of venue
During the March hearing, both McDonald and Deininger’s defense attorney, Robert Saurman, argued for a change in venue, saying media coverage would sway a local jury.
In a memorandum accompanying his recent ruling denying the change of venue, Barrasse wrote, “Change of venue is not warranted unless the defendant also demonstrates that the pretrial publicity was so extensive, sustained, and pervasive that the community must be deemed to have been saturated with it, and that there was insufficient time between the publicity and the trial for any prejudice to have dissipated.”
Barrasse wrote, “Voir dire examination is the proper place to determine whether a defendant’s public notoriety has resulted in a prospective juror’s prejudice.”
Voir dire is the process by which attorneys question prospective jurors to determine their suitability to serve.
During the March hearing, Paul Ross, regional advertising director for MediaNews Group, testified about The Times-Tribune readership both in print and online.
Referencing a spreadsheet, Ross testified that in February the paper had 2.2 million online views and 3.4 million views of its e-edition, for a total of 5.6 million online views.
Daily circulation, he said, is about 22,000 households, with each paper read by an average of 2.2 people per household.
Ross testified the numbers reflected general readership and not specific articles.
Varela asked Ross about the circulation figures, “These are February 2025 numbers, not 2024?”
“That’s correct,” he responded.
Varela asked Ross if circulation had changed from 2024 to 2025.
He said he believed that circulation of printed newspapers was down, but that digital readership has increased over the past year.
Saurman then asked Ross, “Would you agree that this is one of the most read stories?”
Ross replied, “Yes.”
Edward Pikulski, news manager at FOX 56, introduced two videos the station showed Jan. 17, 2024, and Dec. 19, 2024.
The Jan. 17 video included a voiceover that provided information about the shooting and showed Cleveland being placed in a police vehicle.
The second video included footage of Police Chief Thomas Carroll speaking about crime prevention efforts and continuing community support for Gilmartin.
Varela asked Pikulski whether the videos were meant to be informative or inflammatory. McDonald objected to the question and Barrasse sustained the objection.
Saurman then asked if it was Pikulski’s goal to inform and engage readers, to which Pikulski replied, “Yes.”
“It was one of your bigger stories,” Saurman asked.
“Yes,” Pikulski answered.
The final pretrial conference in the matter is scheduled for Oct. 6.