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Women sentenced after appeal denied
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Two women who sued the city police department in federal court over civil-rights violations in 2012 were each sentenced to 28 days in jail Wednesday after appeals of their municipal-court convictions for obstructing official business were denied.
Desiree Johnson, 47, of West Princeton Avenue, also was sentenced by Judge Robert Milich on additional charges of resisting arrest and assault on now Capt. Kevin Mercer and Patrolman Patrick Mulligan.
Dorothea Weston, 37, of Miller Avenue, also had a charge of driving under suspension added for the same incident she was sentenced on for obstructing justice.
Weston and Johnson both were tried in 2012 in municipal court and convicted for a 2011 traffic stop in the 1700 block of Overland Avenue on the South Side. Mulligan and Mercer pulled over a car Weston was driving for an improper turn.
The officers claimed neither woman would get out of the car or show them their driver’s licenses. Weston was taken out of the car by Mercer and pinned to the ground. Mulligan and Mercer said they were hit and punched by Johnson.
The women claimed they were attacked and beaten by the officers.
All charges against both women, except obstructing official business, were dropped in April 2011.
On March 15, 2012, however, the officers initiated the resisting-arrest and driving-under-suspension charges against Weston and two counts of assault on a police officer against Johnson.
Jurors deadlocked on the resisting-arrest charge against Weston after a three-day trial.
Both women appealed their convictions to the 7th District Court of Appeals. The appellate court denied their appeals Sept. 29, 2014. The case then was sent back to municipal court for resentencing.
Robert Harvey, Johnson’s attorney, asked that her sentence be stayed because he has appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, but Judge Milich denied his motion.
Michael Gollings, attorney for Weston, made a similar motion, although his client has not appealed to the Supreme Court. Gollings said he made the motion because a ruling in Johnson’s case could impact his client. Judge Milich also denied that motion.
Both women sued the city in federal court in 2012. Proceedings in the federal suit are stayed until the Supreme Court appeal of Johnson’s case is decided, according to court documents in the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio.