SALEM Judge reverses dismissal of cop's lawsuit

The case will go back to Columbiana County Common Pleas Court for trial.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A Columbiana County judge's dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a Salem policeman against Perry Township and others over his 1999 arrest has been reversed.
The 7th District Court of Appeals ruled Friday that Judge David Tobin of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court was wrong when he ruled in favor of the township rather than letting the case go to trial.
The case was handed back to Columbiana County for further action.
Patrolman Gary Poage filed the suit in January 2000 against the township and its trustees, Police Chief Raymond Stone and police officer Donald Paulin, who made the arrest.
Charge: Police alleged that, during a domestic dispute at his Perry Township home, Poage threw a Leetonia woman out of the residence, fired a handgun into the air, poured gasoline on the woman's car and threatened to set it ablaze. He was off duty at the time.
Poage was charged with misdemeanor counts of aggravated menacing, criminal damaging and using a weapon while intoxicated.
The charges resulted in a trial in Northwest Area County Court, Salem, where the judge ultimately dismissed the case because the state's evidence was insufficient to establish guilt.
Lawsuit: Poage filed the civil suit in January 2000, arguing that his name and reputation were damaged by the criminal case, which he said police brought against him falsely and maliciously.
Judge Tobin dismissed the suit in February 2001, saying Poage failed to prove that township police lacked probable cause, or sufficient grounds, to arrest and prosecute him.
Decision: "The existence of probable cause is typically a factual question reserved for the jury," Judge Cheryl Waite of the appellate court wrote in her opinion, which was also signed by judges Gene Donofrio and Joseph Vukovich.
The appellate decision says that Judge Tobin came to his decision by accepting Paulin's version of what happened "at the expense of the contradictory version" Poage offered.
There was enough conflicting testimony and evidence to have let the case go to trial and allow a jury to decide which version was true, the opinion says.
Neither Poage nor his attorney, Edward Sowinski of Youngstown, could be reached to comment.
bjackson@vindy.com