YOUNGSTOWN — The evidence that stacked up against Michael Malvasi II, now 32, during his aggravated vehicular homicide trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in July 2021 included physical evidence from an accident reconstructionist, testimony from people who saw him drunk and various surveillance videos.

A panel of judges from the 7th District Court of Appeals affirmed Malvasi’s convictions and 12-year prison sentence in a 26-page ruling last week, retelling the bizarre and thoroughly investigated facts of the case.

A jury convicted Malvasi, of Canfield, on aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular homicide, two counts of leaving the scene of an accident, one count of tampering with evidence and one count of drunken driving.

Judge Maureen Sweeney gave Malvasi nearly the maximum sentence for causing the crash that killed passenger Ryan Lanzo, 23; leaving the scene of the 2017 early-morning crash on Shields Road in Canfield Township twice; and failing to get medical help for more than an hour.

The details that emerged from the crash shortly after it occurred were found by many to be barely believable — that Malvasi walked away from the 2:46 a.m. crash, walked or ran to his home in Canfield, got another car, returned to the scene, put Lanzo’s body in that car and drove back home — all without calling 911.

His father, also named Michael Malvasi, later drove Lanzo’s body to an Austintown urgent care facility, where Lanzo was pronounced dead about 4 a.m., authorities said.

Former state trooper Christopher Jester testified at the trial that a “semi-circular” injury on Lanzo’s leg was “consistent with” Lanzo being ejected from the car through the sunroof of the Mercedes Benz and having gotten “caught” on the semi-circular left rear part of the sunroof as the car rolled after hitting a pine tree.

Jester also testified that his investigation of the crash, including his study of photographs of Lanzo’s injuries, indicated that Lanzo was the front-seat passenger.

Jester’s testimony, reported in The Vindicator, gave jurors reason to believe Malvasi was the driver — a key question the jury had to decide after the defense told them in opening statements that prosecutors would not be able to prove that.

FATEFUL DECISION

The appeals court ruling, written by Judge Carol Robb and affirmed by Judge Cheryl Waite and visiting Judge Kristy Wilkin of the Circleville area, discusses Jester’s 26 years with the patrol, 13 of those as a reconstructionist; and details of his investigation.

The ruling states Jester’s conclusion that Malvasi was the driver was “supported by evidence such as tracks, ground gouges, debris field and vehicle condition and position.”

But the ruling brought out testimony The Vindicator did not hear –from several people who were at the same night spots with Malvasi and Lanzo and testified at the trial that they tried to convince Lanzo to get a ride with someone other than Malvasi.

Witness “Dante” testified that he offered to get an Uber ride for Lanzo, but Malvasi said he would drive Lanzo. “Dante suggested that (Lanzo) should decline the ride,” the ruling states.

The defense objected when “Dante quoted (Lanzo) as following: “Don’t worry, Mike’s the best drunk driver I know.” The ruling states that Lanzo and Malvasi walked out of the bar together after that.

“Macy separately voiced her concerns about (Lanzo’s) ride home due to (Malvasi’s) intoxication. She testified over objection that (Lanzo) told her (Malvasi) was going to drive them. The court overruled the objection,” the ruling stated.

Allowing the testimony of the witnesses was another error the defense said Sweeney made in the case, but the appeals panel disagreed.

The panel stated that testimony about what another person said is called hearsay and not admissible in court, but in this case, statements were given to show the “existing, mental, emotional or physical condition” of the speaker, which are allowable.

“…the statement was offered to show (Lanzo) intended to ride with (Malvasi, despite) the concerns over (Malvasi’s) drunkenness,” the ruling states.

Testimony during the trial indicated that they “watched (Malvsi) act drunk, with his staggering and fall captured on video for the jury.” A video from outside a downtown Youngstown bar “less than 10 minutes before the crash” showed Malvasi “entering the vehicle through the driver’s door with (Lanzo) entering on the passenger side,” the ruling states.

Just prior to Malvasi and Lanzo leaving a downtown bar, Malvasi “stumbled into his own table. While walking toward the door, he staggered to the side, knocked over a chair and landed on a seated male patron while causing the patron’s table to move from its position,” the ruling states.

Malvasi and Lanzo left the bar and drove away at 2:39 a.m.

MOVING THE BODY

The ruling also addresses defense arguments that the judge should not have allowed the jury to hear an instruction that Malvasi’s actions after the crash — leaving the scene twice — “may tend to indicate the defendant’s consciousness of guilt.”

The ruling states that when Malvasi left the crash, “he did not call 911 or seek assistance from nearby houses. Instead, he walked or ran quite a distance to reach his house.”

According to evidence, it took 10 minutes to walk from the crash scene to the state Route 46 intersection in Canfield and then possibly another 10 minutes to get home.

“Then when (Malvasi) arrived home, he still did not call 911. Instead, he obtained another vehicle to drive back to the scene, where he (moved Lanzo’s) body into his vehicle and left the scene a second time. (Malvasi) then went home again where the body stayed for 25 minutes in his car (until his father drove the car to an emergency care center), the ruling states.

“Furthermore, the police arrived at (Malvasi’s) house mere minutes after his father left. When they knocked, (Malvasi) was in the kitchen. (Malvasi) looked at the officer through the window and walked away down a hallway instead of answering the door. He peeked around the corner at the officer minutes later, still refusing the answer the door despite 10 minutes of knocking,” the ruling states.

The jury instruction was warranted because “there was evidence of deliberate acts of evasion, concealment and delay,” the ruling states.

As for whether Malvasi was driving — a critical factor in determining whether Malvasi was guilty of aggravated vehicular homicide, the judges stated that Malvasi was the driver of the car when he, Lanzo and two other people went to a Boardman tavern three hours before the crash. Then Malvasi parked the car outside of a downtown night spot and was seen entering the vehicle just before the crash. It took about seven minutes for the car to get to the crash site, which is the length of time it would take someone to drive there going the speed limit, the ruling noted.

At Malvasi’s sentencing, he apologized to Lanzo’s family, saying: “I wasn’t all there. I wanted from the beginning to apologize to the family, but with criminal and civil lawsuits pending, my lawyer told me I should not,” according to Vindicator files.

“I didn’t like that advice, but I followed it, so I want to say now how truly sorry I am for what happened that night and what happened to Ryan.”

Malvasi is currently housed at the Belmont Correctional Institution in St. Clairsville. His “expected release date/parole eligibility date” from prison is July 9, 2033, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.