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YOUNGSTOWN -- An Austintown man likely will face a lengthy prison sentence after a jury convicted him of beating his girlfriend severely on at least two occasions.
Sammy Anderson, 28, of New Road, was led away in handcuffs Thursday afternoon after a jury convicted him on two counts of felonious assault, one count of aggravated menacing and having weapons while forbidden by law, adding two firearm specifications. Anderson was found not guilty on one count of grand theft auto.
"The right verdict was reached by the jury today," Gina DeGenova, Mahoning County prosecutor, said. "The damage done to the victim can never be undone, but I hope this brings some comfort to her as she continues to heal."
DeGenova praised the work of her office's new Special Victims Unit.
"I'd like to congratulate my staff, Caitlyn Andrews and Chief of the Special Victims Unit Jennifer Bonish for their success and commend them on all the hard work they put into securing this conviction," she said.
Bonish said the conviction is especially satisfying given how much background they had to omit from the case. After the verdict was read, jurors were allowed to learn more about Anderson's many prior offenses.
"He has been beating up on this victim for years now," Bonish said. "He has a long list of priors and she has always been too frightened to proceed with any charges. Thankfully now there's finally some justice."
The two counts of felonious assault came from incidents in June and September. In both cases, the assaults began in the victim's car, as Anderson started beating her during arguments while driving.
The victim testified that she broke up with Anderson after the June 15 incident, but they got back together because she loves him. In the September incident, he again started to beat her while driving, then took her to a house on Evergreen Avenue, where he threw her onto the bathroom floor and kicked her repeatedly.
Throughout the trial, police and medical professionals testified about the severity of the wounds the victim sustained from the beatings. During her testimony, when prosecutors asked the victim who assaulted her and caused the physical trauma, she pointed to Anderson.
Despite all the abuse, the woman remained hesitant to testify against him, and drew the ire of Judge Anthony Donofrio for her reluctance to cooperate with prosecutors.
A hearing took place Wednesday morning before testimony began for the day, after defense attorney Mark Lavelle argued that the victim's testimony had been improperly influenced by law enforcement.
The parties and judge met in Donofrio's chambers earlier Wednesday to discuss the matter with the victim by phone. Both the defense and prosecution also made oral arguments on a defense motion seeking a mistrial.
Lavelle said the victim told Anderson during a phone call he made to her Tuesday night from the jail about a conversation she had with a law enforcement official after the U.S. Marshals Service picked her up on a material-witness warrant when she failed to show up Monday to testify.
But Bonish argued that the impropriety in the matter was that Anderson had called the victim despite a protection order issued by Donofrio's explicit orders barring Anderson from contacting her during the case. Bonish alleged that Anderson had contacted the victim more than 1,000 times by phone since the case began.
The judge ruled against the motion for mistrial or to postpone the trial over the issue.
Andrews said sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. She said she does not know yet what her recommendation will be or if the defense will request a presentencing investigation.
Each of the firearm specifications will add at least three years to the sentence, and could add more, as Anderson has repeatedly been caught in possession of firearms despite being prohibited from carrying them because of past felony convictions.
The firearm specifications and the weapons under disability count against Anderson come from allegations that Anderson pistol whipped the victim during the September incident. After dragging her back out of the Evergreen Avenue house, and throwing her back in the car, she testified that he hit her in the back of the head with a hard object. The jury found the charge credible even though the victim testified that she did not know if Anderson had a gun at the time.
At the conclusion of Thursday's proceedings, Anderson's mother could be seen crying in the gallery, and he watched her throughout the short hearing, speaking to her from the defense table before sheriff's deputies escorted him out of the courtroom.
"Mom, you knew this was gonna happen. I told you. Don't act sad now," he said.
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