Grand jury will hear case

Only one witness testified at the hearing.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- A Warren man charged in a hit-and-run accident that seriously injured an 11-year-old girl more than a year ago was bound over to a Trumbull County grand jury Friday on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident.
Irving R. Russ of Risher Road was bound over by Municipal Judge Thomas W. Townley.
Russ is charged in the Aug. 16, 2004, crash that left Annie Lee of Howland a quadriplegic after she, her grandmother and her 3-year-old brother were struck by a pickup truck while crossing U.S. Route 422 at North Road. Annie remains in the Cleveland Clinic.
Prosecutor Bruce Bennett said he was asking for the hearing on only the leaving the scene charge and that other charges against Russ would be presented directly to the grand jury.
Russ surrendered to police Sept. 2, after an arrest warrant was issued, on charges of leaving the scene, obstructing official business and tampering with evidence.
Single witness
The only witness testifying for the prosecution was Jerrel Reed, 22, of Cortland
"People walked in front of us, and he tried to miss them," Reed testified, adding that he was with Russ in the truck on a shopping trip when the accident occurred. "We sat there for a couple of seconds and left ... We were both scared at the time."
Russ drove away without identifying himself at the scene and left the truck on a street on Warren's East Side, Reed testified. "We just panicked."
Under cross-examination by Russ' defense lawyer, John Fowler of Warren, Reed acknowledged he didn't report the accident to police.
Reed said his first contact with police concerning the accident occurred when two detectives came to talk to him in June or July of 2005 while he was in Trumbull County Jail, charged with violating his probation stemming from a drug possession conviction.
"It's probably the best news I think we've heard this whole time in this case -- that there's actually a witness placed in the car at the time of the accident. I think that's as good as it can get," said the Lees' neighbor, Karen Brown, after the hearing.
Girl's condition
Annie's father, Chung Lee, said his daughter's body is getting stronger, but her spinal cord can't be repaired. Annie was to have come home Tuesday, but doctors changed their minds and said she needs another surgery, Lee said.
Lee said he hopes stem cell research can eventually help Annie.
A wheelchair access ramp to allow Annie to enter and leave her home is to be installed next week, he said. The family still needs a donated wheelchair lift-equipped van so Annie can get to medical appointments in Cleveland and go on other trips, Brown said.
Defense lawyer's response
After court, Fowler said the defense contends Russ wasn't driving the truck at the time of the accident. "I'm not even sure my client was in the vehicle," he said.
Fowler said he wasn't surprised his client was bound over because the prosecution only needs to meet a low standard -- that of probable cause -- for a judge to bind a defendant over.
Fowler said he urged Russ to go forward with the hearing, rather than waiving it, because "I wanted to see what kind of a witness he [Reed] was going to make, what kind of appearance, and I wanted to find out what urging the state had used to have him testify. Being a felon in jail, I thought was kind of interesting."
Niles Detective Jim Robbins said Reed wasn't offered leniency on the probation violation case in exchange for his municipal court testimony. He credited Warren police for tipping Niles police off about Reed being a possible witness. "I'm sure that additional witnesses will come forward for grand jury," Robbins said.
milliken@vindy.com