Jury foreman: Both signatures hers in boyfriend homicide case
Defense wants indictment against woman dismissed.
The grand jury foreman whose signature is at the heart of a debate of a woman indicted for the manslaughter of her boyfriend testified Friday that she signs documents in more than one style.
“Yeah, I have multiple ways to sign my name,” the woman said Friday during a hearing regarding Jessica Lynn Grieco’s indictment in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Dennis Langer’s court.
Jessica Lynn Grieco, 34, was indicted July 26 on counts of involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and domestic violence for the March 21 death of Peter Underwood, 32.
Grieco’s attorney asked the court to pay for a handwriting expert to examine the signatures on both a no true bill and the indictment that states probable cause that Grieco killed Peter Underwood. Both documents were signed the same day.
Langer did not immediately rule on the defense motion to dismiss the indictment or to see the grand jury voting sheet.
Jeffrey Gramza, Grieco’s former attorney, had disputed the legality of the signatures. Grieco’s new attorney, Marshall Lachman, filed a motion Oct. 31 asking prosecutors to disclose the grand jury members responsible for the issuance of the indictment, or, in the alternative, disclose the grand jury vote.
“At issue in this matter is whether the indictment was properly signed and (Grieco) was properly indicted under Ohio law,” Lachman wrote in his motion, adding that the state “should be required to disclose the grand jury voting sheet to confirm that the required seven grand jurors voted in favor of the indictment.”
Lachman wrote that a handwriting expert is “necessary for a fair and competent defense in this matter.”
Prosecutors haven’t answered either motion in court filings, but Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said earlier that the signatures were from the same person.
“I can’t remember if she used a different hand, if there was an issue with her hand,” Heck said in August. “I just remember that it was done by her, but it was done by the same person and the same name.”
Grieco told a 911 dispatcher she accidentally shot her fiancé while attempting to unload a gun to prevent him from committing suicide.
Underwood lived in a home on Claggett Drive in Harrison Twp. where the shooting occurred. He died of a shotgun wound to the chest, according to the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.
“He’s shot in the chest. Get here now!” Grieco yelled during the call. “He’s going to die!”