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WARREN -- A day after felony charges were dismissed by a Trumbull County judge, prosecutors in the case against former Liberty schools Superintendent Joseph Nohra Jr. on Thursday filed a notice to appeal the ruling.
Assistant Prosecutors Charles Morrow and Ryan Sanders were in the clerk of courts office shortly before noon. They were filing the necessary paperwork to appeal the decision made Wednesday by Judge Ronald J. Rice that dismissed felony wiretapping charges against Nohra.
The action Thursday came after a short Zoom hearing in Rice's office in which the scheduled Jan, 3, 2022, bench trial has been stayed until after the 11th District Court of Appeals makes a ruling on the appeal.
"We are confident that the appeals court will find the constitutionality of the statute, and the privacy of the public will be protected," Morrow said, noting that his office is seeking assistance from the Ohio Attorney General's office in the appeal process.
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. The felony wiretapping counts were dismissed by Rice on Wednesday.
In his dismissal decision, Rice stated "the court finds that there is lack of guidance as to what constitutes an oral communication in this regard and that such lack of guidance leads to the arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement of this statute."
According to the prosecutor's office, the charges dealt 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.
Defense attorney David 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 had stated previously.
Court officials expect a ruling to come from the 11th District Court of Appeals, based in Warren, in about three months.
If the appellate court upholds the judge's decision, the misdemeanor charges could be remanded to Girard Municipal Court. But if the court rules otherwise, the case may be returned to Rice's courtroom for trial. The defense had motioned for the judge to hear the case.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com