Glenn Olsen, a sophomore at Crestview High School, left, is shown talking with Gene Donofrio, a 7th District Court of Appeals judge, during a break in oral arguments in three appeals court cases held at the school Wednesday.

COLUMBIANA — More than 100 students from Crestview High School and Junior High School got to see a part of the local court system Wednesday that few people see — an Ohio appeals court hearing oral arguments from attorneys to help the judges decide how to rule on a criminal or civil case brought to them.

Specifically, it was the Youngstown-based 7th District Court of Appeals, which reviews criminal and civil cases from common pleas, municipal and county courts in eight eastern Ohio counties, including Mahoning and Columbiana.

One of the cases they heard Wednesday was an appeal of a decision by Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court that granted summary judgment to Liberty Township in Trumbull County, meaning a ruling in the township’s favor without the need for a trial.

The case involves officer David Rankin with the Liberty Police Department who on March 4, 2020, observed a pickup truck with a loud exhaust system. Rankin tried to make a traffic stop on the vehicle in the township. The vehicle did not stop right away and was on Upland Avenue near Gypsy Lane in Youngstown when it stopped.

Rankin and another officer discovered that Clifford Wright, a passenger in the truck, had three felony warrants. Then they saw Wright open the door and run up Upland Avenue, according to court documents.

Rankin released his police dog, Leo, and the other officer ran after Wright. Leo chased Wright into the back yard at 292 Upland, where Wright jumped a fence. Officers later captured Wright in another location.

When Rankin arrived in the back yard, Leo was at the base of the fence and signaled for the dog to return to Rankin. The two officers observed Mullins, who owns the home, in a small shed.

The officers told Mullins to wait in the shed with the door closed, which Mullins did. But when Mullins opened the door suddenly, officers saw Mullins trip over items in the shed and saw the dog “make contact with Mullins at about the knee-high area,” a filing by the township states.

The officers did not see the dog bite Mullins, but Mullins maintains he suffered injuries to his face and eye and alleged negligence by the Liberty officers. Mullins sued the township for damages in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Mullins’ lawyer maintained that Liberty officers were not in a “hot pursuit” situation that would justify traveling into another county. The officers were “freelancing around the Gypsy Lane corridor,” said Mullins’ lawyer, John McNally III, during oral arguments.

Mullins, who is a retired battalion chief with the Youngstown Fire Department, appealed Judge Sweeney’s decision.

Written briefs were filed by both sides. The next step was oral arguments. After the hearing, the appeals panel said it would take the matter under consideration and issue a ruling later on whether to affirm or overturn Sweeney’s ruling.

During the hearing, the judges listed to presentations by McNally and attorney Mel Lute Jr,, who represents the township. The judges also asked the attorneys questions about the case.

For instance, Judge Cheryl Waite asked McNally “at what point did (Mullins) actually allegedly get bitten by the dog?”

McNally said Mullins was “standing in the shed, and they told him to get back in, and it’s at that point the dog jumped on the face of my client, so it happened very quickly that the dog … jumped my client.”

Waite then asked, “Is it your allegation that the police officer allegedly provoked the dog to attack your client, ordered the dog to attack your client?”

“No,” McNally said.

“We allege (Rankin) was negligent in supervising the dog in the back yard, and that is why my client as attacked.”

Judge Carol Robb then asked if the “sovereign immunity” the township claims it has from being liable in matters like this is affected by the police officer and dog leaving the township and entering Youngstown, which is in another county.

McNally said he thinks it is “because the sovereign immunity extends to you as an officer in that township. It doesn’t extend to you statewide.”

He said he does not think the idea of “sovereign immunity should follow them when there is no evidence of a hot pursuit and no evidence that a crime has been committed that they observed.”

Glenn Olsen, a sophomore at Crestview, said during a break in the hearings that he would not like to think that a person could commit a crime in one county and then try to flee to another county to escape responsibility for it.

“But at the same time, it’s a dangerous precedent that a police officer can just pursue somebody through a private individual’s back yard and have complete immunity to negligence if his canine unit acts improperly.”

Olsen said he has not decided what type of career to pursue, but law would be “interesting. I’ve been told I would make a good lawyer. I’ve always kept that in the back of my head because I’ve been interested in legal stuff, but at the same time, it’s a hard profession.”

Donofrio said during a break in the hearings that he thinks exposing young people to the workings of the appeals court and other parts of government helps citizens understand “the function of government” and enables citizens to hold their government officials more accountable.

He said an appeals court like the 7th District is a “check and balance on the trial process (so) that litigants receive a fair trial.” He said, “What we are doing is determining whether the trial judge made an error that affected the outcome of the case.”

Doris Buzzard, who teaches 10th grade government, said she teaches students to understand the the purpose of the various amendments to the United States Constitution. The hearings today helped students understand the impact those amendments have on their rights and lives.

During the break, students told her, “Mrs. Buzzard, sovereign immunity, we now understand that.” She said the hearings are “that real-life application.”