Judge resists Giancola's plea to go home

Giancola will be moved from a group home to an apartmentlike setting.
By DEBORA SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Annette Giancola is one step closer to living on her own again, but not as close as she hoped to be.
"Can I go home?" Giancola asked audibly Thursday, moments after Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court denied her attorney's request to modify terms of her conditional release so she could live with her brother.
Giancola, 46, was found innocent by reason of insanity in the 1997 deaths of her 3-year-old twin son and daughter, whom she drowned in the bathtub of their Canfield Township home. She was admitted to a psychiatric hospital until May 2004, when she was allowed to return to Mahoning County.
Giancola has since been living in a nine-bed Burdman Group transitional home on Youngstown's North Side. Her lawyer, Scott R. Cochran, said Giancola wanted to move in with her brother in the home left to them by their late mother.
Case workers and counselors who have worked with Giancola testified on her behalf, saying that her mental illness is in remission and she poses no threat to the community.
Linda Blum of Turning Point Counseling Services said Giancola is being treated for mood disorder. She takes medication and has complied with everything asked of her at Burdman House.
Moving on
Judge Sweeney agreed that Giancola "has derived the greatest benefit from the Burdman home and should move on," she said. The judge, however, also concurred with Assistant County Prosecutor Robert J. Andrews, who is opposing Giancola's request.
The judge said it's unclear how Giancola would react if someone from the neighborhood confronted her about her past.
Further, Judge Sweeney said, "This court would like to hear some on-point testimony about Ms. Giancola's interaction with children."
The judge is expected to sign a journal entry next week that will place Giancola in one of two residential facilities that offer apartmentlike settings, Cochran said. One of those has on-site supervision; the other is near a group home, he said.
By law, Giancola can ask for another modification to her conditional release in six months, Cochran added.
Judge Sweeney also granted Giancola's request for driving privileges, which will enable her to find a higher-paying job, Cochran said.
Giancola has been working part time for Northeast Industries, a vocational rehabilitation service offered by Burdman Group and makes the minimum wage.
shaulis@vindy.com