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Warren mom to judge: 'I acted out of instinct'
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Rhea Maher told a judge sentencing her for obstruction of justice Thursday that she was acting like a mother when her son was being questioned by police for a shooting in January – but went too far.
“I did act in the heat of the moment as a mom,” Rhea Maher, 49, told Judge Lou A. D’Apolito in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. “I do understand that I exercised poor judgment, but I acted out of instinct.”
Maher, of Halleck Young Road in Warren, was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading guilty June 23 to a charge of obstruction of justice.
Maher was charged because of inconsistent statements she gave to police investigating her 16-year-old son in a Jan. 15 episode in North Jackson, where another juvenile was shot in the face at the Lipkey Road home of her ex-husband.
Assistant Prosecutor Jennifer Paris said Maher’s son was accused of shooting another boy in the face on the front porch of Maher’s ex-husband’s home. After the shooting, the boy called his mother to pick him up, and she picked up her son and his girlfriend.
She said when police asked to question her son she drove him to the police station.
Paris said the victim has recovered but he has nerve damage in his face.
Maher said her son pleaded guilty to an amended charge of aggravated assault, down from felonious assault, served a six-month sentence in detention and is working.
Judge D’Apolito said people need to be careful when questioned by police. He said they can invoke their Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions, but if they do not and agree to talk to them, they have to tell the truth.
“You don’t have to talk,” Judge D’Apolito said. “But if you do, it needs to be accurate.”