Ohio Supreme Court refuses to hear Trumbull killer's appeal

Staff report

WARREN

The Ohio Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal filed by James A. Hubbard of decisions rendered by a Trumbull County judge and the 11th District Court of Appeals relating to whether he is entitled to a less-restrictive security level at a state mental hospital.

Hubbard, 50, of Warren, was found not guilty by reason of insanity of a 1991 murder and attempted murder at the Taco Bell restaurant in Niles.

Police said he shot to death one woman in the parking lot and fired a gun at another woman on Ridge Road in Weathersfield Township the same day.

Hubbard asked Judge W. Wyatt McKay in 2013 to change his status to Level 4, which would allow him to travel with staff outside of Heartland Behavioral Healthcare in Massillon.

Judge McKay ruled against the change, despite testimony from a forensic psychiatrist for the Ohio Department of Mental Health recommending the move.

The official testified that Hubbard would not be supervised by trained security during the travels, a point Judge McKay cited when he issued his ruling in July 2013.

“It is the court’s opinion he represents too much of a danger,” Judge McKay said. “The staffing that would be there on Level 4 is not security.”

The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s office issued a statement Tuesday on the Supreme Court refusing to hear the appeal, saying the office “is committed to continuing to oppose any change in the conditions of commitment of those individuals, such as James Hubbard, who have been found not guilty by reason of insanity, if that change to a less-restrictive setting would pose a threat to public safety or to the safety of any person.”