MAHONING COUNTY Judge cuts jail sentence short for man in cane case

The South Hartford Avenue man can't have any weapons, including the cane.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dwayne Pixley is out of jail, but he's no longer allowed to use the cane that got him sent there in the first place.
Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court agreed Thursday to cut short Pixley's six-month sentence in the county jail, releasing him after Pixley had served about two months.
The 35-year-old South Hartford Avenue man will be on probation for three years, minus the time he spent in jail. Among the terms of his probation is that he not own or possess any weapons.
Judge Krichbaum said after the hearing that because the cane was determined to be a weapon, Pixley can't have it. He said the cane was seized as evidence by authorities and has not been returned.
About the case
Pixley was stopped by deputies as he entered the courthouse in April 2003 because the cane he was using was found to have an 18-inch sword hidden inside the shaft. The blade was discovered when the cane was run through an X-ray scanner at the front door of the building.
Pixley was arrested before leaving the building that day and charged with conveying a deadly weapon into a courthouse and carrying a concealed weapon.
After a trial in January, Pixley was convicted of both charges and sent to jail for six months. His lawyer, Michael Gollings, recently filed a motion asking Judge Krichbaum to reconsider the sentence and let Pixley out of jail.
Gollings said he understood that the judge was trying to send a message when he put Pixley behind bars.
"This was an act that, in these times and days, has to be taken seriously and can't go unpunished," he said.
Pixley said he's learned his lesson and that he just wants to go home so he can resume working two jobs and fishing with his family.
He insisted Thursday, as he did at his trial and sentencing, that he didn't know the blade was concealed inside the cane.
Testimony
He testified during the trial that his wife had bought the cane for him at a flea market the day before he was arrested. He needed it to help him walk because he had been shot in the buttocks less than a week earlier.
Pixley has since recovered from his injury and no longer walks with a cane.
Police testified during the trial that the flea-market vendor displayed the canes with the handles and shafts exhibited separately, so buyers would have to know about the blades.
Judge Krichbaum said there was no evidence that Pixley intended to harm anyone at the courthouse with the sword, and noted that Pixley willingly left the cane at the door when asked by deputies to do so.
bjackson@vindy.com