43
Felony veterans court forthcoming
YOUNGSTOWN
A felony-level veterans court is being established in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, with Judge Shirley J. Christian presiding.
“It’s been very successful at the misdemeanor level for a number of years with Judge [Robert] Milich’s program” in Youngstown Municipal Court, Judge Christian said.
“We’re missing a large part of the population that has felony charges that we need to address,” Judge Christian said. “They have special problems that are not addressed by either drug court or mental- health court that deal specifically with veterans’ issues.
“There’s a need there for a court that addresses the needs of veterans specifically. ... A big component of the program will be a mentoring program, where they will have a veteran assigned with them to mentor them to help them through the [treatment] process, somebody who has been through the military that they can relate to and can address the issues that are specific to the military veterans.”
A 13-member planning committee, including veterans’ service and mental health and substance-abuse recovery officials, probation and community corrections officials, and prosecuting and defense lawyers, which met Friday, is coordinating efforts to get the court started.
Judge Christian said the court initially will serve military veterans charged with nonviolent, nonsexual, fourth- and fifth-degree felonies, which are the least-serious felony offenses.
She said she hopes the new veterans court can begin operating within the next month.
Participating veterans will plead guilty to the charges they face, and the charges can be dismissed if they complete the court-ordered treatment program.
“I think it’s even more important than misdemeanor, although I think misdemeanor is a good veterans court,” Atty. Ron Yarwood, a Youngstown criminal defense lawyer and veterans court planning committee member, said of felony veterans court.
“Some of their situations that they [veterans] have are unique and present themselves in felony-type charges,” he said of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Susan Skrzynski Krawchyk, county veterans service commission director, said the new court is beneficial because it will “help more veterans who have more charges, more than a misdemeanor” and help veterans with traumatic brain injuries and PTSD.
“I think it’s great thing that the judge has taken on another step above the misdemeanor level to try to help as many veterans as possible,” she added.
Judge Christian said 5 percent of defendants in criminal cases for whom the Community Corrections Association has done pre-sentence investigations within the past three years are veterans.
The veterans court will be a specialty court operating in a manner somewhat similar to the drug court presided over by Judge John M. Durkin and the mental health court presided over by Judge Maureen A. Sweeney, both also of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.