Man to be resentenced for having sex with boys

The defendant is serving 19 years.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- A former Warren man's criminal case will go back to Trumbull County Common Pleas Court a third time for sentencing after the 11th District Court of Appeals ruled that the case is affected by recent U.S. and Ohio Supreme Court rulings.
David A. Harrington, 42, was convicted on 20 counts of gross sexual imposition in 2002 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for having sexual contact with two teenage boys.
Later, Harrington was resentenced to 19 years after the appeals court ruled he had been improperly sentenced the first time by Judge John H. Stuard.
This time, the court has ruled that Harrington must be resentenced because of a U.S. Supreme Court case, Blakely v. Washington, in which the high court ruled that judges must not use evidence not heard by a jury to determine the severity of the defendant's sentence.
After the Blakely decision, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that judges should no longer state the reasons why a defendant was given a sentence beyond the minimum -- thereby not using facts not given as evidence to a jury.
Other cases
LuWayne Annos, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, said the federal and state court rulings will likely produce nine more cases such as Harrington's -- cases in the appeals court in which judges followed the guidelines in effect at the time and stated the reasons why a sentence beyond the minimum was imposed.
Judge Stuard said such back-and-forth changes in technical matters such as this are indicative of an Ohio Legislature that has fewer lawyers than in the past and who make reactionary changes to keep up with laws being approved in other states.
Annos said Judge Stuard will have the option to resentence Harrington to the same sentence, a lesser sentence or a greater sentence when the case comes back to the common pleas court in the coming months. But this time, Judge Stuard will have the freedom to sentence Harrington without giving a reason for the sentence. In effect, it gives the judge more latitude, she said.
When Harrington was sentenced the last time, Judge Stuard sentenced him to 19 one-year prison terms to be served consecutively. When Judge Stuard considers Harrington's case the next time, he must decide whether Harrington's sentences should be served consecutively or at the same time, Annos said.
Judge Stuard said he doesn't think the rulings will affect the amount of time defendants will get in prison.