LISBON — The jury trial in the criminal complicity case against John Gamble over a photograph from his failed 2020 Columbiana County prosecutor campaign has been bumped to Dec. 6 and 7.

The estimated two-day trial had been scheduled to start Wednesday, but Visiting Judge David Stucki granted a defense motion for a continuance due to the expected unavailability of defense attorney John Juhasz. Juhasz had a trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court as defense attorney for then Austintown Township Trustee Steve Kent, who was acquitted on three counts of sexual battery involving a high school student, but was found guilty of tampering with evidence, a felony.

A former chief assistant prosecutor for Columbiana County, Gamble ran for county prosecutor as a Democrat in 2020. When a photo with several area police officers appeared on his Facebook page with the statement that they supported him, Columbiana County Republicans questioned use of the photo. Republican Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a criminal case against Gamble in August 2020, charging him with four misdemeanor counts of complicity to violate Ohio’s Little Hatch Act which prohibits classified employees from participating in partisan political activity.

The classified police officers appearing in the photo with Gamble were not charged with any violations. Gamble’s position was considered unclassified. He lost the election to Republican Vito Abruzzino, the current county prosecutor.

Stucki previously dismissed the case, but the attorney general’s office appealed the decision to the Seventh District Court of Appeals. The 11th District Court, sitting for the Seventh District, overturned the dismissal and ruled the trial court erred, noting the lack of a determination on whether Gamble could be charged with complicity since he couldn’t be charged with a violation of the Little Hatch Act as an unclassified county employee.

Gamble’s attorneys, Ron Yarwood and John Juhasz, appealed the ruling to the Ohio Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case, sending the case back to county Municipal Court for Stucki to hear again. Senior assistant Ohio Attorney General Dan Kasaris is representing the state.

A motions hearing was held in June regarding a defense motion to dismiss, with defense attorney Ron Yarwood arguing that every citizen has a right to free speech and that’s what this was, an expression of free speech. Kasaris argued against the motion, saying “whether or not a crime occurred is an issue of fact,” one that should be up to a jury.

Stucki took the arguments under advisement.

mgreier@mojonews.com