Court upholds driver’s conviction

By Tim Yovich

The appellate court ruled the judge was fair when he sentenced the hit-and-run driver to a long sentence.

WARREN — The 11th District Court of appeals has upheld the conviction of Irving R. Russ, the driver in a hit-skip accident that left 10-year-old Annie Lee of Howland a quadriplegic in 2004.

Anne died at age 13 in October 2007 in Cleveland, where she was being treated for a brain infection.

The accident brought much attention to the Lee family as volunteers remodeled a portion of their home to accommodate her physical limitations and to Russ of Howland because he took no responsibility for his actions and was sentenced to 10 years in prison — nearly the maximum — after being found guilty of hit and run, tampering with evidence and complicity to tampering with evidence.

On Aug. 16, 2004, Annie was crossing U.S. Route 422 near North Road in Niles with her younger brother, Andrew, and grandmother, Lai Ying. They were struck by a sport-utility vehicle driven by Russ, who was talking on his cell phone, as was his passenger, Jarrell Reed.

The SUV, owned by Russ’ girlfriend, Raheema Wright, struck the three. Ying and Andrew were not seriously injured; Annie’s body struck and broke the windshield. Russ drove off and later had Wright report her SUV stolen.

Niles police interviewed Wright, but police misplaced the tape recording of the interview. It was only recently found.

Russ claimed in his appeal that the outcome of the trial would have been different if the tape had been available at trial, though notes of Wright’s interview were taken by police.

The appellate court ruled, however, the jury’s hearing of the taped interview would not have changed the trial’s outcome.

The appellate court also ruled the trial court was correct in allowing the jury to know of Wright’s report to police that her vehicle had been stolen.

In another claim, Russ asserted that Judge John M. Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court had personal prejudices against him because of the media attention and that attention influenced the judge’s decision to sentence him to 10 years in prison. The court disagreed.

In the appellate court’s ruling, Appellate Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice, noted that Judge Stuard could have sentenced Russ to 11 years in prison.

yovich@vindy.com