The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
New judge, new date for M-L death penalty case
Former Perry Twp. man will get retrial in death of Mentor woman
A former Perry Township man accused of raping and murdering a Mentor woman now has a new judge and a new retrial date.
Joseph Thomas, now 33, was sentenced to death in 2012 after being found guilty in the death of Annie McSween.
The 49-year-old victim’s body was found on Nov. 26, 2010, in a wooded area outside of a Mentor-on-the-Lake bar, where she worked as a bartender.
Thomas’ second trial was scheduled to begin Aug. 13 in front of Lake County Common Pleas Judge Richard L. Collins Jr., who presided over the original trial.
However, after attorneys requested additional time, the case was reassigned to Judge Eugene A. Lucci since Collins will be retiring at the end of the year.
Jury selection is now scheduled to begin Jan. 7.
Meanwhile, the records
“When you have a retrial, you need a lot more jurors because there’s a lot more water under the bridge.” — Judge Eugene A. Lucci
and docket will remain sealed so that prospective jurors cannot do online research on the case file.
Lucci held his first pretrial in the case April 3 to meet the defendant’s new
attorneys, Donald Malarcik and Noah Munyer, and get up to speed on the case.
Malarcik asked that at least 250 people be summoned for jury duty, which then would slowly be whittled down to the usual pool of around 50 before the final 12 — and four alternates — are seated.
Thomas’ first trial began
with about that same number of potential jurors.
However, Lucci said more would be necessary this time.
“When you have a retrial, you need a lot more jurors because there’s a lot more water under the bridge,” he said.
“I’m thinking more like 400.”
Both sides have submitted lengthy proposed juror questionnaires for the judge to approve, including questions on their views of the death penalty, life in prison and pretrial publicity.
Malarcik estimated it would take about eight weeks to try the case from start to finish, while assistant county prosecutors Patrick Condon and Charles Cichocki said they believe the case would take about six weeks.
Lucci said he would rather err on the longer side, since picking a jury alone could take nearly one month, and he will
set aside the eight weeks.
The judge expressed some concern that both prosecutors are among six candidates seeking the judicial seat that will be vacated by Collins, meaning one of them could possibly not be available at trial.
“What if one of you wins the election?” asked Lucci.
Cichocki assured him there is a third assistant prosecutor being prepped on the case.
The Ohio Supreme Court overturned the death sentence in October 2017 and ordered a new trial be scheduled for Thomas.
The high court determined the trial court improperly admitted into evidence five knives that prosecutors knew were not used in the crime, and that there was a reasonable probability that the error affected the outcome of the trial.
Thomas is currently being housed in Lake County Jail on a $1 million cash bond.