Appeals court goes toschool

By Ed Runyan

The judges explained to the students the court’s role in the justice system.

CANFIELD — To Canfield senior Steven Maggar, watching two attorneys argue their cases before judges from the 7th District Court of Appeals was like watching an episode of “Law and Order.”

But in this case, the twists and turns presented on his high school’s auditorium stage involved real people who once lived several miles away in Youngstown and whose futures depend on the outcome of those arguments.

Another senior, George Vassillaros, said listening to the arguments of Boardman attorney John P. Laczko on behalf of defendant Craig Franklin convinced him that Franklin’s murder conviction in April 2006 was “really shaky.”

Franklin, convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and aggravated robbery for his role in a May 2005 holdup of Atway’s Market on Youngstown’s North Side, was sentenced to 25 years to life for his role in the crime.

Prosecutors said Franklin, then 17, and another youth entered the store minutes before three other youths. Franklin and the other boy lay on the floor while the others tried to rob the store.

But one of the store owners pulled a gun and fired two shots, killing one of the robbers, Eric Farmer, 15, and wounding another.

Some of the boys in the store that day later testified that Franklin was the mastermind of the robbery.

Prosecutors charged Franklin with the crime by saying his actions fit the Ohio law that says one commits conspiracy to commit murder if his actions cause the death of another as a result of his (Franklin’s) committing a crime of violence such as aggravated robbery.

During Laczko’s oral arguments, he and Appellate Judge Gene Donofrio agreed that the case is nearly unique in Ohio law in that there are no other cases for review in which someone was convicted of killing a co-conspirator because of a gunshot by a third person.

Vassillaros, one of about 250 students attending the oral arguments, said he had a hard time understanding how Franklin could be convicted of murder.

“Murder seems like it has an to have an intention to do it,” Vassillaros said.

The three judges hearing the case planned to find a room somewhere in the school just after the oral arguments concluded Wednesday morning to vote on what they would do with the case — such as order a retrial, overturn the conviction or uphold the conviction.

They also planned to assign one of them to write the court’s opinion, which will be released to the public sometime in the next couple months.

The 7th District Court of Appeals, based in Youngstown, hears appeals of trial courts in Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Harrison, Jefferson, Mahoning, Monroe and Noble counties. The court’s job is to decide whether individuals charged with crimes received a fair trial. Appellate courts also hear appeals of noncriminal cases.

To overturn a trial court’s decision, the appeals court must find that an error was committed that did serious damage to the defendant’s case. “You can’t just say you don’t like the decision of the jury,” Appellate Judge Joseph J. Vukovich told the students.

During a question-and-answer session, the judges said they overturn between 16 percent and 18 percent of verdicts brought to them. That number is higher than it used to be, Judge Donofrio said, because trial court caseloads are growing, putting greater demands on trial court judges.

“We are like a ‘Monday morning quarterback,’” Judge Donofrio said, explaining that he and his colleagues have months to review decisions made in moments by trial court judges.

All four judges — Judges Mary DeGenaro and Cheryl L. Waite are the others — said they earned their bachelor’s degrees from Youngstown State University.

The 90-minute experience taught sophomore Isabella Simon that being an attorney can be a difficult job. She learned that it can take 80 to 100 hours to review the 700 to 800 pages of an average trial transcript before writing a brief to the appeals court.

“I don’t think I’d want to be the defense attorney,” said senior Kate Popovec. “You’d really have to want to do it.” Defending those accused of horrible crimes would be hard, she added.

runyan@vindy.com