Woman accused of falsification turns down deal with prosecutor

AUSTINTOWN -- A woman who is charged with falsely accusing a township officer of raping her has refused a deal from the prosecutor's office.
Charmin Merchant, 34, who appeared in Mahoning County Court here Monday, wants a trial, said assistant Prosecutor Kenneth Cardinal. He would not elaborate on the deal he had offered her.
Merchant was brought before county court Judge Diane Vettori on Monday after she did not appear in court June 5 and June 12. Austintown police picked her up in Fairfield County last week after she was released Wednesday from a hospital there and had an extradition hearing. She had been at the hospital since June 9, according to Austintown Detective Dan Kosco.
Merchant is charged with two counts of falsification for reporting to police Feb. 15 that the officer, with whom she'd had a romantic relationship, raped her and hit her in a hotel room at the Fairfield Inn on Niles Canfield Road on Feb. 14.
Police said after an investigation by the township department and the state Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation that the officer did not rape Merchant.
She is in the Mahoning County jail on a bond of $100,000. Judge Vettori would not allow her to be entitled to early release if the jail lets prisoners go because of overcrowding.