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Family expresses frustrations in mall parking lot death case
By Joe Gorman
BERLIN CENTER
Family members of a woman killed in November, when she was run over in a mall parking lot in Boardman, say they have received barely enough notice for a sentencing date of the man accused in her death.
Charles Dailey, husband of Judy Dailey, who was killed, and his daughter, Kim Harvey, said from their home Thursday that the late notice is just one more example to them of how the judicial system is prolonging their agony.
“It’s disgusting,” Harvey said. “I’m disgusted with the whole county justice system.”
About 60 family members and friends were at an Aug. 8 sentencing hearing before Judge John Durkin in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court for 24-year-old Matthew Wilson of Florida on a misdemeanor charge of vehicular homicide. They waited for nearly an hour before a bailiff came out and told them the sentencing hearing was being continued. A date of Sept. 12 was picked.
Court records, however, show that a new sentencing date of Monday was set Aug. 16. Dailey, however, did not receive notice until Wednesday, which he says is not enough time for family and friends from out of town to make arrangements to get to Youngstown, including a son who lives in Florida.
They were especially irate because they said even though they were notified by the county’s victim/witness office, no one called them beforehand to let them know. They also said they were upset at the prosecutor on the case because she will not return their calls.
County Prosecutor Paul Gains said the date was changed “unilaterally” by Judge Durkin’s office, and his office received no notice of the rescheduled hearing until Aug. 21, when the victim/witness office reviewed the court schedule and discovered the change. When it noticed the hearing was rescheduled, it sent out a letter the same day to Dailey.
Gains said the prosecutor, Meghan Brundege, got Wilson to plead guilty – and that would help the family in a civil case because a no-contest plea does not carry an admission of guilt.
The family also is upset that Wilson was not indicted on a felony charge by the grand jury. The family also expressed dismay that he was in court in Portage County for an initial appearance on a charge of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence just three hours before he ran over Judy Dailey in the Southern Park Mall parking lot near JCPenney.
Police said Wilson had a seizure before the crash, but Dailey and his daughter said Wilson was not taking medication that was to prevent those seizures. They said they are trying to change state law to have the Bureau of Motor Vehicles notified whenever someone needs medication to stop them from having seizures. They said it is not fair to other drivers who are put in danger by someone who has the risk of having a seizure, yet refuses to take medicine.
“How many people do we have out here on the roads with the same condition?” Dailey asked.
Gains said the grand jury was presented with both a felony and misdemeanor case, and it chose to indict the misdemeanor case. He said under state law, there is no provision for someone being indicted for not taking medication that could affect their driving. He said if the Dailey family could manage to make such a change, he would welcome it.
“We cannot charge beyond what the law allows,” Gains said.
Gains said he understands the family’s frustration.
“They are the victims of a tragic accident,” Gains said. “My heart goes out to them.”