Ousted attorney heads north
Dawn Cantalamessa takes new position with prosecutor’s office in Ashtabula
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Dawn Cantalamessa, who was accused of being deceitful to a Mahoning County judge and left her county job, has landed an assistant prosecutor job in Ashtabula County.
Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in August found that she made a false statement to the court.
Cantalamessa served as a prosecutor in a case against Lavontae Knight and told Durkin that a co-defendant did not implicate Knight in a crime, when the co-defendant did implicate him.
She had prosecuted high-profile murder cases in Mahoning County for many years, but resigned as assistant prosecutor after the judge removed her from the case.
Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains placed her on paid administrative leave after the judge cited her "careless indifference to ascertaining the truth" regarding evidence in the Knight case and making a false statement to the court.
Cantalamessa, of Warren, indicated in May she was considering a run next year for judge of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to replace Judge W. Wyatt McKay, who cannot run for another term.
Contacted by telephone on Tuesday afternoon by the Star Beacon newspaper in Ashtabula, she declined to comment on her hiring.
Ashtabula County Prosecutor Colleen O'Toole defended the hiring.
"She is still in good standing with the Supreme Court," O'Toole told the Star Beacon. "In the event that would change, we would review that then."
O'Toole said they checked Cantalamessa's status with the Supreme Court before she was hired, and she has no prior disciplinary history.
O'Toole said she sees no evidence of unethical behavior in Cantalamessa.
"Pending any further actions, I feel confident in her abilities to handle a docket," she said.
Being able to hire a prosecutor with Cantalamessa's level of experience was a great coup, O'Toole said. Having someone who knows the computer program the county uses is a good thing, she said.