MAHONING COUNTY Gains defends rape-case plea agreement

Prosecutors will ask that the plea deal be vacated because of the confusion.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains says neither he nor his staff did anything wrong in handling a plea agreement in a long-standing rape case.
But Atty. Brad Gessner, who is trying to oust Gains from the office he's held for eight years, says the prosecutor's office botched the case from the beginning. Gessner is challenging Gains for the Democratic nomination for prosecutor in Tuesday's primary election.
At issue is a plea agreement Monday in common pleas court between the prosecutor's office and 31-year-old Enrico Davis of Austintown. Davis pleaded guilty to four counts of rape and one count of aggravated burglary in the assaults of a 10-year-old girl in 1998 and 1999 and a 12-year-old girl in 2001.
Prosecutors said the rape charges carried a possible sentence of life in prison because the victims were younger than 13. Prosecutors dismissed one of the life specifications as part of the plea agreement, but thought the other three were still in effect when Davis pleaded guilty.
What judge said
But Judge Charles J. Bannon said life in prison won't be considered when Davis is sentenced May 6. He said prosecutors did not include language in the indictment that is necessary to make life imprisonment an option.
Ohio law requires that prosecutors prove that force, or threat of force, was used in committing the rapes before life can be considered. Judge Bannon said that language does not appear in the indictment.
"This is inexcusable," Gessner said. "It's a mistake that even a first-year law student shouldn't make."
Gessner also ripped the prosecutor's office for recommending five-year prison sentences for Davis. He said once Davis is given credit for the 41/2 years he's spent in the county jail awaiting trial, he'd end up serving only six more months.
Explanation
But Gains said the five-year recommendation was only for the aggravated-burglary charge, and for the rape count in which the life specification was dismissed. The recommendation was based on the belief that Davis would be getting life in prison for the other rape counts.
"We would never agree to just five or 10 years for this guy," Gains said.
Because of the confusion surrounding the matter, Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Krueger said she will file a motion asking Judge Bannon to vacate the plea because "there was no meeting of the minds" between the prosecution and the defense.
If the judge overrules the motion, Gains said he will ask for imposition of maximum, consecutive sentences on all five counts to which Davis pleaded guilty. The maximum penalty for each charge is 10 years, so he could get 50 years in prison of the judge imposes maximum terms and runs them back-to-back.
bjackson@vindy.com