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Judge opens records in Larosa murder case, closes next hearing
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
On the same day a Trumbull County Juvenile Court judge released records in the Jacob Larosa murder case, she set a three-day hearing in June to determine whether he will be tried as an adult — and she closed it to the public.
Larosa and his attorney told Judge Sandra Stabile Harwood on Thursday that they waived his right to have prosecutors prove they had probable cause that the 15-year-old committed murder, attempted rape, aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery.
That means prosecutors did not have to present witnesses to support their claim that Larosa committed the crimes in the death of Marie Belcastro, 94, on March 31 in Belcastro’s Cherry Street home.
That allowed Judge Stabile Harwood to set the next hearing June 8-10 in juvenile court to determine whether Larosa should be tried as an adult in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court.
Judge Stabile Harwood spent a great deal of time asking Larosa, who stood before her in handcuffs and in jail clothing, whether he understood the right to a preliminary hearing that he was giving up. He said he did.
In announcing that the next hearing would be closed, Judge Stabile Harwood said the reason is “because of the confidentiality of the nature of the reports that will be testified to.”
She was referring to mental and physical evaluations she has ordered officials to carry out on Larosa. She said at an earlier hearing that mental-health evaluations are an example of documents not open to the public, just like in adult court.
But she did sign an order earlier Thursday stating that records filed in the case previously and in the future would be open to the public — except those specifically ruled exempt.
That allowed the disclosure of an additional affidavit containing new information, including details about two liquor bottles a neighbor told The Vindicator he found in the backyard of his house the day of Belcastro’s death.
Police said they believe liquor bottles were taken from Belcastro’s basement, and the neighbor’s surveillance video shows Larosa carrying what appear to be liquor bottles that afternoon, the affidavit said.
A cap to a liquor bottle was found in the basement that “appears to belong to a liquor bottle that was later recovered in a neighbor’s backyard,” the affidavit said.
Blood was found on Larosa’s clothing, body and glasses when he was found in his home that afternoon, but an examination later at a hospital indicated Larosa had no injuries, it said.
Police also found a pair of bloody shoes at Larosa’s home that was “similar to the bloody footprint pattern observed at the victim’s home,” the affidavit said.
Belastro had just been to the bank that day and had cash in her purse, her daughter told police. Her purse “was found rifled through,” the document said.
It contained numerous descriptions of blood and the severity of Belcastro’s injuries.
Anthony D’Apolito, juvenile court administrator in Mahoning County, said the reason Judge Stabile Harwood may have opened the records and the probable-cause hearing — but closed the next hearing — is because the Ohio Supreme Court has said the public has a right to know if a crime is “heinous.”
Information about the seriousness of the crime comes up at a probable cause hearing and in affidavits.
But the public “doesn’t need to know” the details of a person’s psychological history, which is one of the things that comes up in the amenability hearing, which determines whether the case is transferred to adult court.
An amenability hearing addresses the question of whether the juvenile can be helped in the juvenile system within the several years until age 21 “or whether they are too far gone for us to help them,” D’Apolito said.
The last time an amenability hearing took place in Mahoning County Juvenile Court, it was closed to the public. He gave the news media basic information about the proceedings, such as whether it had been completed but not what type of witnesses testified.