Appeals court rules on evidence issue

Appeals court rules on evidence issue

YOUNGSTOWN

The failure of Boardman police to say “search warrant” before they broke down an apartment door doesn’t justify a trial judge’s decision to exclude heroin and other items they seized from evidence, a three-judge panel of the 7th District Court of Appeals has unanimously ruled.

Even though the prosecution conceded police violated the state’s knock-and-announce law, the appellate court ruled Wednesday that Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court should not have excluded from evidence the items police seized because police had a valid search warrant for the Applecrest Court apartment they entered.

The appellate court sent the cases of Sherri A. Bem-bry, 31, who was charged with permitting drug abuse, and Harsimran Singh, 28, who was charged with heroin possession and trafficking and receiving stolen property, back to Judge Durkin for further proceedings.

Police arrested Bembry and Singh when they executed the search warrant and made the seizures Nov. 2, 2012.

Panel upholds minister’s conviction

YOUNGSTOWN

A three-judge panel of the 7th District Court of Appeals has unanimously upheld a minister’s conviction on rape and gross sexual imposition charges, for which he was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The appellate court rejected claims by the Rev. Ronald Lee Pyles Jr., 62, who was pastor of Victory Harvest Ministry on Palmyra Road in North Jackson, that he was denied a speedy and fair trial and effective defense counsel and that his conviction was based on insufficient evidence.

In a nonjury trial in January 2013, Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court convicted Pyles of the sex crimes against a 19-year-old mentally disabled woman who lived in his church’s homeless shelter, and imposed the prison time on Pyles.

Pyles is in the Southeastern Correctional Institution in Lancaster, Ohio.

Crash kills woman

AUSTINTOWN

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating a two-car crash that killed an elderly township woman.

Geraldine Beene, 83, of Austintown was pronounced dead at the scene.

A car driven by Albert Mihalik, 84, of Youngstown, was eastbound on New Road approaching the state Route 11 overpass, when it was struck head-on by a car driven by Richard Hunter, 58, of Austintown, who was westbound on New Road and lost control on the overpass about 6:15 p.m. Thursday, according to a patrol news release. Beene was a passenger in the Mihalik car.

Hunter was not injured. Mihalik and his wife, not identified, were taken to St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital for nonlife-threatening injuries, the patrol said release. The patrol said everyone involved in the accident was wearing a seat belt.

Men ransack home

YOUNGSTOWN

Police are looking for several men who burst into a home in the 200 block of East Avondale Avenue about 9:05 p.m. Wednesday.

Witnesses inside told police they were in the living room and heard a loud noise, and when they went to investigate, they found several men inside, one armed with a handgun and another with long gun.

Reports said the home was ransacked and one of the men fired a shot when they left. No one was injured.

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