Visiting judge appointed in Dellick case

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

The state Supreme Court appointed a retired common pleas court judge Friday to hear the case against John Dellick, son of Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court.

Michael Nunner, a retired judge from Harrison County, was appointed to hear the case against the 19-year-old Dellick in common pleas court.

The court’s judges asked for a visiting judge because of a potential conflict of interest.

Dellick faces charges of kidnapping and abduction, both felonies, and a misdemeanor count of assault as well as two counts of felonious assault, a second-degree felony; two counts of ethnic intimidation, a fifth-degree felony; and two misdemeanor counts of aggravated menacing.

The kidnapping, abduction and assault charges stem from an incident in July with an ex-girlfriend in Canfield.

The other charges stem from a road-rage incident in October and originally were leveled as other offenses in county court in Canfield. In that case, Judge Scott Hunter stepped down because of a potential conflict of interest, and Nunner was appointed to hear the case.

Prosecutors from the state attorney general’s office in that case then dropped those charges and presented their evidence to a grand jury, which indicted Dellick on the more-serious charges last month. Court records show a March 7 pretrial hearing has been scheduled for that case.

Dellick also faces misdemeanor charges in Youngstown Municipal Court. He is accused of threatening the same ex-girlfriend at Youngstown State University last fall. He has a hearing on those charges Wednesday.