YOUNGSTOWN Prosecutors ask high court to keep man jailed

By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County prosecutors will ask the Ohio Supreme Court to keep a Youngstown man in prison while they appeal a recent reversal of his conviction and life sentence for aggravated murder.
The request was to be filed with the high court today, said Assistant Prosecutor Janice T. O'Halloran.
Last week, the 7th District Court of Appeals overturned the 1999 conviction of Warren M. Stanley, who is serving a life sentence for the aggravated murder of 17-year-old Janina Thompson in 1996. The appellate court ordered that Stanley, who is now 22, be released from prison.
Under Ohio law, prosecutors have 45 days from the date of the appellate ruling to file an appeal with the Supreme Court. O'Halloran said they want Stanley to remain in prison until that's done and while the appeal is pending. She filed a motion Tuesday morning asking the 7th District court to put a stay on its decision while she pursues an appeal to the high court, but the request was denied.
O'Halloran immediately prepared a similar request for the Supreme Court, which was to be delivered overnight.
She declined to comment on the reversal except to say that she disagrees with it.
Appeal argument
The basis of Stanley's appeal was that an assistant under former county Prosecutor James A. Philomena had promised he would not be prosecuted if he testified against two other suspects in the case, which he did.
More than a year after Philomena left office, a complaint was filed against Stanley in juvenile court because he was 17 at the time. He was ultimately bound over to common pleas court for trial as an adult.
The appellate court ruled there was sufficient evidence of a nonprosecution agreement and that it was breached when the complaint was filed against him.
O'Halloran, though, said there was no such promise made to Stanley.
"The trial court heard all those arguments and determined there was no nonprosecution agreement," she said. Judge Robert Lisotto presided over the trial.
Prosecutor transition
The appellate court cited chaos in the transition between Philomena and Prosecutor Paul Gains, who defeated Philomena in an election and took office in 1997. Gains said last week that Philomena, now in a federal prison for fixing cases while he was in office, was not cooperative in the changeover. But O'Halloran said that did not affect this case.
"There wasn't any chaos here," she said. "There was consistency."
She said Gains' juvenile prosecutor had also worked under Philomena and was familiar with the case.
bjackson@vindy.com