TRUMBULL COUNTY Judge declines to reduce bond

The judge also denied the prosecutor's request to hold the defendant without bond.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A judge refused to lower the $1 million bond for a driver accused of running over a woman in a field near a Liberty Township grocery store.
Judge John Stuard denied the motion Monday of Attys. Roger Bauer and Maridee Costanzo to lower the bond of their client, Anthony V. Ciminero, to $100,000.
Judge Stuard issued his decision Monday afternoon. A hearing had been set for 9 a.m. Monday, but Judge Stuard chose not to have the hearing, instead telling attorneys he would release a written ruling later in the day.
"It's not the ruling we wanted, but we will regroup and try again," Costanzo said.
Bauer and Costanzo said they wanted Ciminero's bond to be reduced so that he could attend in-house drug and alcohol counseling.
"We want to make sure he gets the help he needs," Costanzo said.
Judge Stuard also rejected the motion of Ken Bailey, an assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, to not set any bond for the 34-year-old defendant.
Ciminero is charged with attempted murder and felonious assault.
Woman injured
Ciminero is accused of ramming his sport utility vehicle into a parked car occupied by Robert and Nancy Norman of Liberty in the Giant Eagle parking lot on Belmont Avenue.
After the couple got out of the car, Ciminero ran over Mrs. Norman, 43, as she lay in a nearby field, Bailey said. Mrs. Norman spent two weeks in Cleveland Metro Health Center with severe internal injuries. She is now in a local rehabilitation hospital, Bailey said.
Bowers and Costanzo said their client has no prior criminal record and has a drug addiction.
Ciminero's case was sent from Girard Municipal Court to the grand jury last month. Grand jury proceedings are secret so it is not known when the case will be heard.
sinkovich@vindy.com