Joshua Rivera

The trial for a Butler man charged with striking and killing 15-year-old Aiden Lutz when he was riding a bicycle in October 2023 has been canceled for now.

Jury selection was scheduled to begin Wednesday, Sept. 16, and the trial was set for Sept. 21 for Joshua Rivera, 41, in Butler County Common Pleas Court, but Senior Judge James Arner issued an order canceling the trial after Senior Judge Christopher St. John recused himself from the case during an Aug. 17 hearing.

Arner issued the order Sept. 3 canceling the trial after the Aug. 17 hearing, in which Assistant District Attorney Ben Simon argued that St. John made a biased statement during an in-chamber meeting that took place after an Aug. 4 hearing.

Rivera has been charged with homicide by vehicle, third-degree murder, accidents involving death or injury, aggravated assault by vehicle and other offenses, and is being held in jail in lieu of $500,000 bond.

According to Simon, St. John made unsolicited statements, and said he did not view the case as third-degree murder and he did not believe the prosecution could prove its case for third-degree murder.

Simon also said St. John made personal comments saying children are irresponsible, children ride e-bikes on the road and don’t think about what they are doing and that Lutz probably turned in front of Rivera while riding his e-bike.

St. John said he has been, and can continue to be, fair, impartial and unbiased. He said his comments wouldn’t impact his rulings and he has made no prejudgments, but agreed to recuse himself because he was concerned about the impact the claims of bias would have on the public perception of the judiciary.

Following the recusal, District Attorney Rich Goldinger said he did not believe the trial would proceed as originally scheduled.

He said he believed the case would be assigned to another senior judge because most of the Butler County Common Pleas Court judges recused themselves from the Rivera case due to a conflict of interest stemming from an unrelated civil case.

Arner will preside over a remote hearing Wednesday to reconsider a decision from St. John against recusing the district attorney’s office and referring the case to the state Attorney General’s Office.

After St. John recused himself from the trial, he did not address the motion to reconsider that was filed Aug. 10 by public defenders Joseph Smith and Kimberly Hudak. St. John denied the motion after it was originally filed April 11, 2024.

The 2024 motion from the public defender’s office asked for the recusal because of a conflict of interest arising from political actions relating to campaign materials that were mailed to all Republican voters in the 2023 election for district attorney, and ongoing civil litigation in which the district attorney is a party based on those claims.

The motion refers to a suit filed against Goldinger and several others alleging libel, slander and defamation by attorney Jennifer Gilliland Vanasdale stemming from the 2023 election in which she ran against Goldinger. St. John dismissed the case in October 2025. The case has been appealed to Superior Court.