More proof of dysfunction in criminal justice system

A community in shock over the cold-blooded slaying of an 80-year-old God-fearing woman should not have to wonder about the ability of the criminal justice system to make the killer pay for his dastardly deed.

But that’s exactly what residents of the city of Youngstown and of the Mahoning Valley at large are experiencing today as the criminal history of the 18-year-old accused murderer, Jamar Houser, becomes public.

A major part of that history is the revelation that Houser had been in the Mahoning County jail in November on $500,000 bond when Judge Lou D’Apolito of the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court reduced the bond to $20,000, with a 10 percent cash option. As a result, Houser walked out of jail after posting the $2,000.

On Jan. 23, 80-year-old Angeline Fimognari was found shot to death in her car in the fenced-in parking lot of St. Dominic Church on Youngstown’s South Side. Angeline’s purse was missing. Six days later, city police arrested Houser, also known as “Mook,” and charged him with aggravated murder and aggravated robbery. Bond has been set at $3 million.

Why was he on the streets of the city in the first place? Because Judge D’Apolito reduced his $500,000 bond. Why did the judge do that? He isn’t saying. The case is still open.

Why was Houser in county jail three months ago? Because a Mahoning County grand jury indicted him on felony charges of firing a gun into a home, aggravated menacing and assault. As a juvenile, Houser was arrested for receiving stolen property and aggravated robbery. In other words, he has been a plague on society. And yet, he was able to finesse the criminal justice system.

Refreshingly candid

Youngstown city Prosecutor Jay Macejko is refreshingly candid in pointing the finger of blame at county Prosecutor Paul Gains. When Houser sought to have the $500,000 bond reduced, several things should have happened: First, Gains’ office should have contacted the city prosecutor to find out why he and the police believed such a high bond was justified; second, related that information to Judge D’Apolito; and third, D’Apolito should have used the standard for setting bonds articulated by Judge R. Scott Kirchbaum in 2002.

Krichbaum had been asked to reduce a $1 million bond set by Juvenile Court Judge Theresa Dellick to personal recognizance because the defendant could not afford a cash bond of any amount. Krichbaum ordered the woman, who was awaiting trial in the death of her infant son, held without bond.

In a written opinion, he said that Ohio law allows people charged with a felony to be denied bond in cases “where the proof is evident or the presumption great.”

The judge also wrote that bond can be denied if the defendant poses a risk of potential serious physical harm to the victim, a witness or the community.

Indeed, that was the argument city Prosecutor Macejko used in responding to county Prosecutor Gains’ contention that an individual has a constitutional guarantee of a reasonable bond and “the problem is you can’t predict a person’s behavior once they are out.”

Macejko countered that while it is impossible to see into the future and determine who will commit crimes while on bond, a good determinant of behavior is an individual’s record.

And Houser’s record strongly suggested continued trouble with the law.

While Judge D’Apolito remains mum, the community is left to wonder why he would not have given the city police, the city prosecutor and the municipal court judge who set the $500,000 bond, Robert Douglas, the benefit of the doubt when the motion for a reduction was in front of him.

The murder of Angeline Fimognari gives critics of the system a reason to be angry.