IN COURT Contempt hearing set

The lawyer said he missed the hearing because his son was in the hospital.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A hearing is set for Jan. 25 before Judge Timothy P. Maloney of Mahoning County Probate Court for a lawyer and his client to show why they should not be held in contempt of court for disobeying the judge's order.
Court records show Atty. David Gerchak and Kathy Pozzotto of Youngstown failed to show up at Judge Maloney's court Nov. 30 to discuss some matters involved in an estate inventory Gerchak was working on.
Pozzotto is the fiduciary or the executor of the estate of her mother Agnes N. Shinoski. The estate is valued at $14,000.
The records show the inventory was filed, but proof of service -- or notification -- to two heirs of the Shinoski estate was not provided by Gerchak, who ran unsuccessfully for a Mahoning County Court judgeship in November.
Because the heirs weren't notified, the inventory was not approved as submitted. A judgment entry was filed in October notifying Gerchak of the need to show that the heirs had been served or explain why they had not. That same entry says failure to do so could be considered "a direct contempt of court."
Warrant issued
When Gerchak and Pozzotto failed to show Nov. 30, the judge issued a warrant for their arrests last Friday.
GERCHAK
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Gerchak was arrested at his law office on West Boardman Street and taken to county jail, but he quickly posted the $100 bond and was released.
Pozzotto also posted bond before deputies arrested her.
Gerchak explained Monday that the inventory was filed and there was a minor clerical error made by his office staff in the process.
He said, however, that state law does not require that heirs be notified if they live out of state, as do the heirs to the Shinoski estate.
As for missing the Nov. 30 hearing, Gerchak said his 2 1/2-year-old son has a rare medical condition, and he was with his son in the hospital Nov. 29 and Nov. 30.
Gerchak said this is first time he had missed a hearing before Judge Maloney.