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Woman pleads in vehicular homicide case
Photo
Yaeger
By jeanne starmack
lowellville
A woman who ran over a Campbell businessman while he was out walking near his Springfield Township home has pleaded no contest to vehicular homicide.
Retired Portage County Municipal Court Judge Barbara Watson heard Whitney Yaeger’s plea Monday afternoon at a pretrial hearing in Struthers Municipal Court. Yaeger will undergo a presentencing investigation. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
Yaeger, 21, of Unity Road in Springfield Township ran over Dave Muslovski, 55, as he was out for an early-morning walk June 17, 2010, on Middletown Road not far from his Unity Road home.
She hit Muslovski, who owned Iron City Wood Products on Wilson Avenue in Campbell, while she was texting, an Ohio State Highway Patrol report indicates.
“I have no comment for you,” Yaeger told The Vindicator why she chose to plead Monday when she had refused a plea deal in July. She had demanded a jury trial, which was set for Sept. 29 but was postponed when the third judge assigned to the case, Judge Michael J. McNulty of Barberton, stepped down.
Yaeger’s case played out in court for 18 months — Judge Watson is the fourth judge to be assigned. Struthers Judge James Lanzo recused himself because he is acquainted with the Muslovski family and has represented them legally, and the second judge, Judge Diane Vettori of Sebring, recused herself after she discovered her niece knows Yaeger.
Yaeger’s attorney, John Juhasz, had accused Judge McNulty of responding emotionally to victim impact letters and said those letters were actually attempts to influence the judge’s decision. Juhasz said Judge McNulty indicated he would impose half the possible 180-day jail sentence and would suspend Yaeger’s driver’s license for the maximum amount of time allowable before he even heard any facts in the case.
Yuhasz pointed out that had been the recommendation of Denise Muslovski, Muslovski’s wife, in one of the letters.
McNulty denied allegations of bias, but recused himself after the challenge.
Before Monday’s hearing began, Mrs. Muslovski and Tina Yanssens, the Muslovskis’ daughter, said they have continued to campaign for a ban on texting and driving in Ohio.
They said they have testified, along with other victims’ families, before the state Senate Transportation Committee about the need for legislation it is considering that would enact a ban.
Pennsylvania’s recent ban, Mrs. Muslovski noted, passed Nov. 9, which was her husband’s birthday.
After the plea, Muslovski family members did not have a comment.
“Other than to say we’re just looking to get through this,” Yanssens said.
Prosecutor Ross Smith said Yaeger could be sentenced to 5 years’ probation, six months in jail, or a combination of jail time and probation for the first-degree misdemeanor. She can be fined up to $1,000.