Case involving drug death goes to grand jury

Police say the man supplied drugs to two teenage girls.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
GIRARD -- Despite efforts to have charges against him dismissed, a Youngstown man accused of supplying drugs to a teenage girl -- who later died -- has been bound over to the Trumbull County grand jury.
Timothy Wyland, 38, of Superior Street, is charged with one felony count of corruption with drugs and two felony counts of permitting drug abuse. He appeared Wednesday before Judge Michael Bernard for a preliminary hearing.
Wyland is accused of spending hours in a Liberty motel room March 24 supplying drugs to two teenage girls from Girard. One, Cortney L. Rushwin, 16, of Hillside Drive, died the next morning at her home. She was a junior at Girard High School.
Atty. J. P. Morgan, representing Wyland, asked the judge to discharge his client because the state failed to meet the burden of proof necessary to move forward. He said the state had not shown where the episode took place or shown that Wyland knew the girls were juveniles.
Judge Bernard denied the request to discharge and bound Wyland over to the grand jury for further proceedings.
Seated near family
Wyland was led into the municipal courtroom cuffed, shackled and wearing an orange jumpsuit supplied by the Trumbull County Jail. He was seated a few feet away from where members of Cortney's family had been sitting.
Some of the family members chose to move away. Some held their seats. All seemed to hold a constant stare on him.
Judge Bernard at one point called for a short recess, and Cortney's mother, Kathy Migliozzi, could be seen crying and being comforted by family members in the rear of the court. She spoke to reporters about her daughter's memory and offered a warning to other teens.
"Cortney was a great girl, just a great kid," she said.
Migliozzi said the situation is the result of peer pressure and a bad choice on the part of her daughter. She said she hopes all that know the situation learn something.
Friend testifies
Once court reconvened, the other teenage girl at the hotel with Wyland and Cortney on March 24 shed some light on what occurred.
The 17-year-old friend testified that Cortney and another person picked her up in Liberty and drove around a while before calling Wyland, who was at the Knights Inn Motel in Liberty.
According to the 17-year-old friend, she, Wyland and Cortney "hung out" for a while then left the motel to drive around, stopping at a gas station and convenience store in Austintown to pick up job applications.
The friend said when the trio returned to the motel, Cortney and Wyland made several trips to the restroom where she assumed they used drugs. Wyland, she said, later offered her some heroin and she accepted.
The Trumbull County Coroner's office has determined that Cortney died of drug intoxication involving several different drugs. Morphine, cocaine, methadone and marijuana were in the girl's system.
The friend said the girls later called another friend for a ride and were pulled over by Liberty police as they were leaving the hotel. Cortney, she said, was feeling sick before she was taken home and had to stop to walk around and get some fresh air.
Cross examination
Morgan, on cross examination, asked the friend if she was certain Wyland knew the girl's ages and under what circumstances he was given that information.
The friend said she could not remember telling Wyland her age, but was certain that he knew how old she was.
Morgan also asked the friend if she was certain Cortney and Wyland had been taking drugs in the bathroom at the hotel, and if Cortney had drugs in her possession before going to the hotel.
The friend said she did not see the drug activity in the bathroom, but could hear what was going on. She also said Cortney did not have drugs in her possession before meeting Wyland at the hotel.
jgoodwin@vindy.com