YOUNGSTOWN Mom seeks a hearing for early release

The woman asked for early release in September and was denied.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- An East Side woman is again asking a judge to release her early from prison, where she has been locked up for killing her infant son.
Janell Thomas, who turned 20 on Sunday, is serving a three-year sentence at the Ohio Reformatory for Women in Marysville.
She was sentenced in January by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, after she'd pleaded no contest in December 2002 to a charge of reckless homicide.
Authorities said Thomas, of North Garland Avenue, killed her 11-month-old son, Leroy Huff Jr., in October 2001 by repeatedly striking him in the head.
Thomas denied the allegations, and said the boy was hurt by falling off a bed and hitting his head on the floor.
Assistant prosecutor Patrick R. Pochiro recommended probation for Thomas, but the Ohio Adult Parole Authority, which did a background check on Thomas before she was sentenced, recommended prison.
First request
Thomas' lawyer, Mark Lavelle, filed a request Sept. 4 for judicial release, formerly known as shock probation. Judge Krichbaum denied the request five days later without holding a hearing.
Ohio law does not require courts to hold a hearing before ruling on such requests. There is no limit on how many times a criminal defendant can ask for judicial release as long as the requests are denied without hearings.
However, if the request is denied after a hearing, the defendant cannot ask again.
In court documents filed Monday, Lavelle asks that Judge Krichbaum hold a hearing on the matter and approve Thomas' request for early release.
bjackson@vindy.com