Jury rules in favor of Cortland officer

WARREN—It took a Trumbull County jury less than 90 minutes of deliberations Friday to find that Cortland Police Officer Jason Smith was not at fault when his cruiser struck and killed 16-year old Cassandra Thompson in July 2006.

The victim’s father, William Thompson of Kinsman, had filed suit for $2.5 million claiming that Smith was speeding unnecessarily at the time of the accident. The police officer had been responding to a non-emergency police call when his cruiser struck the victim at a speed that Smith said was between 35 and 45 miles per hour.

For more on this story, see Saturday’s Vindicator or vindy.com