LISBON — The jury trial in the aggravated murder case against William P. Long Jr. has been bumped to 9 a.m. Feb. 3, with a motion to suppress pending and another motion related to expert evidence expected to be filed.

Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton agreed to continue the Nov. 18 trial date during a hearing Wednesday and also canceled a status hearing that was scheduled for Monday, Nov. 3.

Instead, the time slot at 9 a.m. Nov. 18 will serve as a general motions hearing in the case. A status hearing is now set for 2 p.m. Dec. 8.

“I’m sorry for inconveniencing the court,” defense attorney David Betras said.

Long, 51, North Market Street, Lisbon, who is accused of shooting his ex-wife to death in 2023, remains jailed under a $1.5 million cash or surety bond after being charged in May 2024 with aggravated murder and murder, both unclassified felonies, along with first-degree felony discharging a firearm upon a roadway, and firearm specifications for using a gun for each count, in the death of 50-year-old Michelle A. Long on Nov. 29, 2023 outside her Carey Road home in Butler Township.

Long attended the hearing in the company of sheriff’s deputies. Family members of both Long and the victim were present also. Michelle A. Long was a teacher and coach at Leetonia High School at the time of her death.

Bickerton opened the hearing by advising that retired Tuscarawas Common Pleas Court Judge Edward E. O’Farrell, who had been assigned to handle only the defense motion to suppress filed in the case, recused himself due to his schedule. Retired Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge William T. McGinty has now been assigned to handle that portion of the case.

Columbiana County Assistant Prosecutor Alec Beech, who represented the state along with county Assistant Prosecutors Tammie Riley Jones and Jennifer Bonish, addressed the court and said it’s unknown how the motion to suppress will be decided, making the decision a possible issue depending on what’s decided. He also said the state just received the defense team’s expert’s report on Tuesday and defense counsel indicated information contained in the report could require the filing of a Daubert motion, which can be used to challenge scientific or expert testimony.

Beech said that will require the state to file their own motion in response and an evidentiary hearing could result with some witness testimony.

Betras told the judge he kept pushing and pushing for the expert’s report and did not know about the possible Daubert issue until he got the report. He said he was going to file the Daubert motion by next Tuesday, Nov. 4 and she said she was assuming he’ll want a hearing on that.

Bickerton said to Betras that if he wants to file that motion, what he’s asking for then is to continue the trial, to which Betras said he was afraid to ask.

“For whatever reason you didn’t do these things in the time the court allotted,” she said, adding that the state should not be penalized and his client shouldn’t be penalized. She said the court was attempting to run efficiently and the court also has a difficult schedule.

“The victims have a right to have a conclusion to this as well. It’s about fairness to all parties involved,” she said.

Betras said he’ll file the Daubert motion and a request for evidentiary hearing.

“I don’t think that can all be done and fairly concluded by Nov. 18,” he said. “In the interest of fairness, a continuance is probably what we need.”

Long is represented by both Betras and defense attorney Frank Cassese. They filed a motion last week to suppress a lengthy list of evidence in the aggravated murder case against him, claiming the search of his property was unconstitutional and the evidence should be thrown out.

The list of search warrants and evidence sought to be suppressed includes: the property at 807 N. Market St., Lisbon where Long had been residing and any vehicles located there; a 2019 Chevy truck; a 2005 Chevy pickup; an Apple iPhone; Verizon wireless records associated with two separate phone numbers; a Life360 account for Long; iCloud accounts for various email addresses; iCloud accounts for a particular phone number or account belonging to Long; Amazon blink cameras; documents associated with an Allstate Insurance Company policy and Google accounts located within a certain radius of specific coordinates on Nov. 29, 2023 from 5:38 p.m. to 5:48 p.m.

Betras wrote that “the defendant’s property was unconstitutionally searched as Detective Lt. Caleb Wycoff’s search warrant affidavit lacks probable cause due to the affidavit lacking the requisite nexus between the place to be searched and the evidence sought.”

On Tuesday, the state filed a response in opposition to the motion to suppress, claiming the motion is without merit. The answer noted that Bickerton issued all but three of the search warrants, with those warrants issued by former county Municipal Court Judge Katelyn Dickey, and that Bickerton can rule on the motion to suppress for those three warrants.

“Here, the defendant’s motion to suppress challenges the probable cause determination of the issuing judge, focusing on the nexus between the criminal activity — the murder of the defendant’s ex-wife — and the defendant. The defendant appears to offer a closing-argument-style commentary on certain facts rather than specific challenges to the search warrant affidavits,” Beech wrote.

He also wrote that each search warrant at issue details law enforcement’s lengthy, underlying investigation into the matter and each affidavit focuses on the evidence sought.

“Each affidavit concerning the defendant or the defendant’s property undoubtedly ties the defendant to the property,” he wrote.

According to Beech, the judges had ample evidence to establish probable cause. He outlined each search warrant and the reasons and noted the affidavits were not bare bones. He said that “each affidavit concerning the defendant’s property clearly establishes a nexus between the defendant and the criminal activity.”

mgreier@mojonews.com