The Portage County Court approved the prosecutor’s pre-trial motion to void 19 witness subpoenas from Adrian Barker’s defense attorney.

Defense attorney Scott Lear had subpoenaed 19 people from the night of Kent State student Chris Kernich’s Nov. 15 assault, including witnesses and police officers, in regards to the process the police used to identify Barker as one of the persons involved in the assault.

In addition, the court also approved the motion to exclude polygraph results of the state’s witness Glenn Jefferson from the trial. The court denied the prosecution’s motion to redact mention of a tattoo in the Summit County Coroner’s autopsy report on Kernich.

In the early morning hours of Nov. 15, Kernich was nearly struck by a car driven by Glenn P. Jefferson Jr. Barker and co-defendant Ronald Kelly got out of the car and allegedly assaulted Kernich, who died a week later from his injuries at Akron City Hospital.

Another hearing is scheduled for Barker on April 8.

— Anthony Holloway