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WARREN -- The criminal trial of Joseph S. Nohra Jr., former Liberty schools superintendent, is scheduled to begin Jan. 3, 2022, but on that day lawyers in the case will have no jury pool to question.
Nohra's lawyer, David Betras, had asked Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald J. Rice to waive his client's right to a jury trial, and at a pretrial hearing Thursday, the judge agreed.
Now Rice will decide whether Nohra is guilty of 11 felonies and misdemeanors dealing with the bugging of a school district office in 2018 while Nohra was superintendent.
Nohra, 50, of Topper Hill Drive, Hubbard, was indicted in a special report of the Trumbull County grand jury in May on six felony counts of interception of wire, oral or electronic communications and five misdemeanor counts of interfering with civil rights.
Prosecutors had offered to drop the felony counts, with Nohra pleading no contest to the misdemeanors, which each carry a potential six-month jail term. Nohra, however, told the judge he was declining the offer.
"We thank the prosecutors for their offer but we are going to take our chances at trial," Betras told the judge.
According to the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office, the charges deal with Nohra, when he was superintendent, setting up a hidden surveillance camera and audio above an employee's desk in the district office in the bus garage. The allegations came from an investigation initiated by the state auditor's office that was executed through a search warrant by local authorities at the Liberty schools on March 5, 2019.
Betras, however, explained Nohra at the time was presented with credible evidence that a school employee may have been involved in theft in office. Nohra, with the knowledge and approval of the school board and its legal counsel, initiated his own investigation that resulted in that employee's resignation, Betras said previously.
The alleged criminal offenses occurred over a two-week period in April 2018, the prosecutor's office stated. Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow said he will not comment further on the case facts.
Nohra resigned as Liberty superintendent in June 2020.
The felony charges against Nohra are fourth-degree felonies, which each carry a potential 18-month prison sentence.
In October, the court record shows that Rice had denied a defense motion to dismiss the case as well as an attempt to disclose additional exculpatory evidence, which Rice ruled did not exist.
Meanwhile, a civil lawsuit also is proceeding against Nohra in Rice's court. In that complaint, filed in July, seven people claim their privacy was affected by secret recordings allegedly ordered by the former superintendent.
Earlier this month, Rice held a scheduling conference with attorneys in the civil case. Depositions of initial witnesses must be completed by Sept. 15, 2022, with all motions about arguments of facts and law to be filed by Nov. 1, 2022. The final pretrial hearing will be set for Jan. 24, 2023, and a jury trial set Feb. 13, 2023.
Named as plaintiffs in the civil action are former or current school district employees Christine Gallaugher of Hubbard, Rick Svetlak of Poland, Dale Fuller of Girard, Karen Copenhaver of Hubbard and Leslie Diana of Youngstown and two others, Gallaugher's husband David and close friend Francine Delbene of McDonald. Named as co-defendant with Nohra is the Liberty Local Board of Education.
The plaintiffs, who claim invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress, together are seeking more than $595,000 in damages.