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YOUNGSTOWN -- The Seventh District Court of Appeals has affirmed the convictions and sentence of Dustin Ruiter, 51, of Youngstown, in his rape trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court earlier this year.
It is a much different ruling than the one the appeals court handed down in 2023 after Ruiter was convicted the first time in 2021.
In that ruling, the appeals court reversed most of Ruiter's 73 convictions in his 2022 trial, sending the case back to Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony D'Apolito. This time, the appeals court said Ruiter needed to be given the services of a DNA expert, something D'Apolito ruled against the first time.
Though Ruiter was able to hire a DNA expert the second time, it may not have helped.
Ruiter was still convicted on 67 charges -- 33 counts of rape, 33 counts of sexual battery and one count of attempted rape. He was sentenced in February to 68 years in prison, restoring the penalty he got in the first trial.
The total sentence is 77 years in prison -- the 68 years from the second trial and another nine years as a result of gross sexual imposition convictions that the appeals court did not overturn the first time.
The ruling affirming Ruiter's convictions this time contained some interesting facts: After evaluating the evidence in Ruiter's case, the expert DNA witness that was hired to assist Ruiter and his attorney "concluded she could not provide meaningful testimony" on Ruiter's case. And "At her suggestion, (Ruiter) obtained an expert in the field of gynecology. However, (Ruiter) decided not to call that expert as a witness at trial, as that expert also determined that he would not be helpful to (Ruiter's) defense," the new appeals ruling states.
The ruling states that Ruiter was indicted in 2019, alleging offenses against three children in their teens.
One basis of Ruiter's appeal the second time was the allegation that prosecutors did not sufficiently differentiate the criminal acts corresponding to the various charges submitted to the jury and instead provided "generalized testimony."
The ruling noted that the defense did not object to these matters, including in the jury instructions or verdict forms during the second trial. The appeals ruling cited case law indicating that "The purpose of an indictment is to provide the accused with adequate notice of the charges and an opportunity to defend."
It added, "Exact dates and times are immaterial unless the nature of the offenses makes exactness essential."