Oct. 10—JEFFERSON — Attorneys working for Phil Garcia and for the Ohio Legal professional Basic’s Workplace have filed a lot of briefs during the last a number of weeks, as protection attorneys search to have Garcia’s responsible plea or sentence thrown out.
Garcia was re-sentenced to 10.5 years in jail after beforehand pleading responsible to 4 counts of compelling prostitution, third-degree felonies, and 4 counts of sexual imposition, third-degree misdemeanors, in line with courtroom information. He was initially sentenced to 18 years in jail, however was re-sentenced after the eleventh District Courtroom of Appeals discovered he had been sentenced to above the statutory most for compelling prostitution.
Throughout the re-sentencing listening to, Senior Assistant Ohio Legal professional Basic Laura Dezort requested visiting Decide David Fuhry to impose the utmost sentence.
J. Reid Yoder, Garcia’s lawyer, objected, stating the plea deal reached between Garcia and the state stipulated that prosecutors may ask the choose to condemn Garcia to jail, however couldn’t request a selected period of time.
That interplay shaped the premise of a movement to vacate Garcia’s plea and sentence, filed in early September. Within the movement, Yoder argues that the request for a most sentence entitles Garcia to vacate the responsible plea, or at the least be sentenced once more in entrance of a brand new choose.
Prosecutors filed a response transient in late September, stating that as quickly as an attraction has been filed, the trial courtroom loses jurisdiction to rule on any issues that aren’t in furtherance of the attraction. The transient additionally claimed that the plea settlement doesn’t restrict how a lot jail time the state may argue for, it merely states that prosecutors would argue for jail time.
Ambiguity in a plea settlement ought to be interpreted towards the state, Yoder stated in his movement.
Yoder additionally filed a movement with the eleventh District Courtroom of Appeals, asking the courtroom to remand the matter to the trial courtroom, to be determined there.
Prosecutors opposed the movement to remand the matter to the trial courtroom, stating that appellate guidelines don’t enable the appeals courtroom to remand a case to the trial courtroom whereas an attraction is pending.
This case is being overseen by a visiting choose and prosecuted by the Ohio Legal professional Basic’s Workplace after all the Ashtabula County Courtroom of Frequent Pleas judges and the Ashtabula County Prosecutor’s Workplace recused themselves.
Garcia, a former caterer, highschool sports activities official and Conneaut Metropolis Council member, was accused of focusing on younger Black boys.