Homicide suspect pleads to jury
In tearful trial opening, Canfield man asks for fairness in fatal crash case
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YOUNGSTOWN -- A rare legal manuever allowed the defendant in an aggravated vehicular homicide case to speak to the jurors Wednesday without being cross-examined.
Michael G. Malvasi II, 30, read a tearful statement asking jurors to be fair and to examine all evidence in his trial on felony charges connected to the Nov. 18, 2017, crash that killed Ryan Lanzo, 23, of Boardman. Authorities say Lanzo was a passenger in a car driven by the defendant.
In the defense's opening to a long-delayed trial before Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Maureen Sweeney, Malvasi told jurors he was not driving the vehicle.
"None of us, even the prosecution, can turn back the hands of time. We've all made mistakes, and they have pretty messed up evidence against me," Malvasi told jurors. "Please, just be fair, and look at all the evidence."
Malvasi, of Canfield, faces two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of failure to stop after the fatal accident, driving under the influence and tampering with evidence.
The last charge is linked to Malvasi accused of moving Lanzo's body from the crash scene on the S curve of Shields Road in Canfield Township.
But Malvasi said he was not behind the wheel when the white Mercedes SUV crashed in the early morning of Nov. 18, 2017.
Assistant Prosecutor Rob Andrews explained that the two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide the jurors must weigh are that Malvasi is accused of operating the vehicle while intoxicated and operating it recklessly.
"All evidence points to the defendant," Andrews said. "We will use video, photographs, autopsy records and accident reconstruction based on measurements, formulas and science. This is not based on witchcraft."
Andrews said Malvasi and Lanzo were involved in the fatal accident after a night of drinking that begin at Lanzo's Boardman apartment and continued at two Boardman nightspots.
Early testimony backed up the prosecution's position that Lanzo rejected pleas of friends not to get into the Mercedes with an intoxicated Malvasi after last call at Suzie's Dogs and Drafts on U.S. Route 224.
After the crash, Malvasi is accused of leaving a dying Lanzo behind, walking or running to his home on Timber Run Drive, getting another vehicle, returning to the crash site, picking up a now deceased Lanzo and taking him back to Malvasi's home. Lanzo was pronounced dead on arrival at a St. Elizabeth emergency center in Austintown, where Malvasi's father, Michael Sr., took him.
Wednesday's state testimony centered around Malvasi and Lanzo's night that included witnesses Dante Delsignore and Jackie Perry, who had been with both Malvasi and Lanzo at the two bars. Two other female witnesses had documented Malvasi's drunken behavior at Suzie Dog's and Drafts.
Before their night of bar hopping, Delsignore said he and the three other men, including Malvasi and Lanzo, talked about getting an Uber ride, but the witness said the other three had jumped into Malvasi's Mercedes.
Delsignore testified he became concerned about Malvasi's reckless driving habits before reaching the U.S. Route 224 bars.
"I just didn't feel safe on the way to the bars. When he started the car he blasted the music and when he pulled onto Market Street, he took the left turn rather fast and I told (my friend Jay) to put on a seat belt," said Delsignore, who had known the victim since their grade school days at St. Charles in Boardman.
Delsignore said he couldn't tell how much either Lanzo or Malvasi had to drink, but about closing time, Lanzo came up and "asked me how I was getting home." Delsignore said he had asked his female friend for a ride for him and his friend Jay Kennedy.
"She had a small Chevy Cruze and I knew Jay needed to lay down on the back seat. Ryan asked if he could come with us…" Delsignore said as he broke down in tears. "I offered to get him a Uber, but he didn't take it."
The other two females, who testified to seeing Malvasi being "blackout" drunk, said they both tried to get Lanzo to not get into the car with Malvasi.
"Ryan made a comment to me that 'Michael is the best drunk driver I know,' and then my concerns kicked in, and he promised me the would get a ride home with Dante," testified Marcy Marlowe of Boardman, who had that conversation with the victim after closing time at Suzie's.
The prosecution will continue its case today in a trial that has been postponed seven times, according to online court records. It took a little more than 3 1/2 hours Tuesday for a seven-male, five-female jury with four alternates to be seated.
Sweeney ruled in July 2020 that she will allow statements Malvasi made to police at the hospital and at his home after the crash to be admitted into evidence, but ruled against allowing evidence from a blood test to be used at the trial. During Wednesday's testimony, the judge also did not allow the playing of a security video showing Malvasi and Lanzo leaving Suzie Dogs and Drafts just prior to the fatal accident.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com