Trending
WARREN -- A North Lima man, convicted by a Trumbull County jury in June of two felony offenses, on Wednesday received an indefinite five- to 7 1/2 year prison sentence.
Joshua A. Nutt, 41, formerly of West Main Street in Cortland and now with a Market Street address in North Lima, was read his rights about appealing the guilty verdicts of his trial that resulted in convictions on burglary and aggravated menacing.
Attorney Mary Ellen Ditchey said her client intends to appeal.
Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge W. Wyatt McKay said the man displayed "impulsive, unpredictable behavior" that led to a violent offense where the victim feared for her life.
The jury heard testimony during one day in late June about an Aug. 30, 2020, incident in which Nutt walked into a home on Charles Street in Cortland. He had known the woman who lived there since childhood, but their relationship had soured, and she had become fearful of him, according to testimony.
The jury of five men and seven women took about two hours to deliberate, ending the trial that saw the 42-year-old woman victim take the witness stand.
The woman, who said she had known the defendant since childhood, said their relationship had deteriorated since 2014. She testified Nutt lost his job and went through a divorce, and became angry when he started asking her for things "and I had to tell him no."
In testimony, the woman said Nutt walked into her home in May 2020 when she was not there, and she afterward texted him never to come to her home again. The text on the Messenger app also told Nutt that he needed a medical evaluation.
When Nutt showed up at her home Aug. 30, 2020, the woman told the jury, "I thought he was going to seriously hurt me or kill me."
The woman was in her kitchen when Nutt walked through the door that connected to her garage, which was open. She said he called her a name and when she told him to leave, Nutt became angry and lunged at her.
According to the testimony, Nutt threatened the woman, saying, "You're lucky I didn't shoot you."
The woman testified she made her way out the sliding glass door into the back yard. When Nutt stayed at the door, she again told him to leave. As he made his way to the door, he took her cellphone off the kitchen counter. The woman testified she wanted to hit the panic alarm on her security system, which was near that door.
In cross examination, Ditchey tried to show that there was no intent to harm the woman.
"He (Nutt) was confused about the reasons the relationship deteriorated," Ditchey told jurors.