Judge reduces bond for woman charged in false rape accusation
AUSTINTOWN -- A Mahoning County Court judge has reduced bond for a woman who is charged with falsely accusing a township officer of rape.
Charmin Merchant, who was still in the Mahoning County jail late Thursday, had her bond reduced from $100,000 to $50,000. Her lawyer, Louis DeFabio, asked Judge Scott Hunter for a bond reduction at a pretrial Monday.
Judge Hunter also modified her bond to delete a do-not-release-early order placed on her by Mahoning County Court Judge Diane Vettori. The order would have prevented her release if the jail let prisoners go due to overcrowding.
DeFabio had argued that his client is only charged with a misdemeanor that did not involve violence.
Reason for high bond
Merchant had not appeared for a pretrial June 5 or another one June 12. She had gone into the hospital June 9. After she'd missed the June 5 date, the court issued a warrant for her arrest. Assistant Prosecutor Kenneth Cardinal had argued that because she did not appear, her original bond of $2,000 was forfeited. He said that the high bond was to ensure future appearances.
Merchant reported to police in February that an officer raped her and hit her in a hotel room at the Fairfield Inn on Niles Canfield Road.
After an investigation with the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, township police decided not to charge the officer.
Merchant has refused a plea deal from the prosecutor's office and has demanded a jury trial. There is no record of a trial date being set.