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Fairness is judge-elect’s trademark
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Rebecca Doherty
YOUNGSTOWN
Because she’ll miss her colleagues here, the transition from prosecutor to judge won’t be easy for Rebecca Doherty.
However, she said she’ll be guided as a Portage County Common Pleas Court judge by the same sense of fairness that characterized her as a prosecutor.
“As a prosecutor, I’ve always looked at both sides of every case and been fair in the way I handle it,” Doherty said.
“I want to make sure that the [crime] victims get justice, but that the defendant is treated fairly, so that will carry over into what I do on the bench. That’s what our system is about,” she added.
Doherty is leaving her job as chief of the criminal division of the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office to begin her six-year term as a judge in Ravenna on Jan. 1.
Doherty, a Republican, was elected to the judgeship Nov. 4, defeating Democrat Eugene Muldowney, a Portage County assistant prosecutor, by a 56-44 percent margin.
“She’s fair and honest and knows the law and will do the right thing,” said Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains, who hired her in 2009 and promoted her to division chief in 2011, after Robert E. Bush Jr. became Mahoning County Job and Family Services director.
“Portage County’s gain is our loss. ... I’m glad for her, and I wish her my congratulations, but I’m sorry to see her go,” Gains added.
As evidence of her fairness, Gains cited the dismissal at her request of a capital murder charge against Jamar Houser in the Jan. 23, 2010, shooting death of Angeline Fimognari, 80, in what police believe was a robbery in the St. Dominic Church parking lot after Fimognari attended Mass there.
Although witness statements placed Houser nearby around the time of the shooting, two witnesses said in April 2012 that Duane Colvin, who was murdered in September 2011, had admitted his role in the murder of Fimognari.
A judge approved dismissal of the murder case against Houser in May 2012 after Colvin’s body was exhumed and his palm print was found to match the one on Fimognari’s car door at the murder scene.
“I’m not going to be in a position where I’m prosecuting somebody that I don’t think should be prosecuted. I’ll dig up bodies if I have to,” Doherty said.
In addition to her sense of fairness, Doherty said her experience as a trial lawyer in criminal prosecution and defense and civil law have prepared her well to be a judge.
Having received her bachelor’s degree in education and her law degree from the University of Akron, she has been a lawyer since 1992.
Doherty, who resides in the Ravenna area, was a prosecutor in Summit County before joining Gains’ staff.
As a judge, she said her goals will be to establish mental health and drug courts.
“Those are very specialized issues that I think need to be addressed in a special way,” she explained.
In addition to her administrative duties as a criminal division chief here, Doherty appeared in court to prosecute numerous homicide cases, always having another prosecutor appearing with her, whom she could train in the process.
“I think it’s important for the [crime] victims’ families to know that they have a very senior and experienced prosecutor working on their behalf,” Doherty added.
“I’m going to miss everybody, my cops and my prosecutors and even the defense attorneys,” Doherty said of her impending departure from her Youngstown job.
Doherty’s hard work and career progression have occurred despite her having survived two bouts with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
“I was never going to give up. I wanted to see my kids grow up, and I did,” she said of her determination to be a cancer survivor.
She has been in remission since 2001, when she underwent a stem-cell transplant.
Her son, Ross, is an aerospace engineer residing in Cleveland.
Her daughter, Caitlin, who resides with her, is an office manager for a Kent construction company.
When time permits, Doherty enjoys traveling and spending time on the beach. She said she enjoys golf but hasn’t had time for it recently.
“I really don’t have time to do anything. I work, and I go home and I have three dogs,” she said.