Defense lawyer: “It’s ridiculous”

A circuit judge in Walhalla has ordered the state Attorney’s General Office to be ready by July 1 to try a Seneca man on charges of the sexual exploitation of minors. Suzanne Earle, attorney for Robert Kevin Adams, moved yesterday for a speedy trial for her client who has sat in a jail cell 18 months awaiting trial.  Earle said, “It’s ridiculous to hold someone in jail that long awaiting trial.”  Judge Scott Sprouse agreed.  And, short of a trial by July 1, Sprouse said he would allow Earle to motion for a personal recognizance bond for her client.  Arrested in 2015, Adams faces multiple charges of sexual exploitation of a minor.  A lawyer for the Attorney General said her office has been delayed awaiting a report on a forensic examination of Adams’ computer and its files which, she says, has been delayed because some of the files are encrypted.  According to the state’s attorney, the investigator says the report will be ready “in the next few weeks.”