YOUNGSTOWN Filing asks for 2 trials in sex case

Two sets of charges were filed two years apart.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Anthony Panici's lawyer says separate juries should hear unrelated sex charges against a former Lowellville football coach.
Panici, 35, of West Wood Street, faces five counts of sexual battery because authorities say he had sex with a teenage girl in 1999, while he was a teacher and coach at Lowellville High School. The victim was a student there but was not in any of Panici's classes. Those charges were lodged against Panici in December 2000.
Two years later, Panici was indicted by a Mahoning County grand jury on six counts of pandering obscenity involving a minor, related to images found on his home computer.
Jury selection on all the counts was to begin today in common pleas court.
Motion filed
Atty. Dennis DiMartino, who represents Panici, filed a motion Tuesday afternoon asking that the pandering charges be tried at a later date. Judge Maureen A. Cronin was expected to rule on the motion this morning, before jury selection.
While authorities were investigating the sexual battery case, they seized Panici's computer to see if there were any electronic mail messages to confirm his alleged relationship with the victim.
During the course of that investigation, authorities found that Panici had downloaded and saved pictures of child pornography, which led to the pandering charges.
Prosecutors have said each count is for a separate picture, and that each child shown in the pictures is under age 8. Panici is not accused of showing the pictures to anyone else, only of having them in his possession.
Cases unrelated
DiMartino said the pornographic material had nothing to do with the victim in the sexual battery complaint, so the two cases are unrelated.
He said a jury could be unfairly biased against Panici on the sexual battery charges, though, if it hears evidence about the pornographic material.
"There is just no way this guy will get a fair trial if the same jury hears all those things," DiMartino said.
He said Panici has not coached or taught since the first indictment was returned against him in 2000.
He was a student teacher of the second grade when the sex charges were filed. He was varsity football coach in 1999.
The state's list of 26 potential witnesses includes the victim and her mother, deputy sheriffs and police who investigated the cases, school officials, child advocacy counselors and friends of the victim's family.
bjackson@vindy.com