YOUNGSTOWN — Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Maureen Sweeney has ordered a mental health assessment to help determine the proper sentence for Damian Cessna, 28, the man found guilty last month of felonious assault on a police officer.

Cessna has been in the Mahoning County jail since his May 15 conviction, awaiting his June 11 sentencing. He could get more than 10 years in prison.

Prosecutors filed a motion Friday asking for the assessment. The filing notes that Cessna was previously evaluated for competency to stand trial and his mental state at the time of the offense. Those evaluations did not result in Cessna being found incompetent, and there was no insanity defense at trial, the filing noted.

The filing cited an Ohio statute that requires Sweeney to consider “any factors that indicate that the offender is less likely to commit future crimes.”

It notes that “Specifically, looking at (Cessna’s) mental health history, his appearance and performance in court, a mental health evaluation could well assist the Court” in evaluating whether factors such as Cessna’s previous criminal history and whether Cessna’s offense was committed “under circumstances not likely to recur” should apply.

“That is not to say that the Court should not consider the factors in the same statute that make the conduct more serious or that indicate that the offender is more likely to” commit future offenses, the filing states.

“This was, to be sure, a serious offense. On the other hand, Ohio law requires sentencing to be individualized, taking into account all of the factors set forth in the statute,” it states.

It adds that Cessna earlier “rejected a plea offer that would involve (no prison time) and mental health treatment,” but his rejection of that outcome does not mean “that such a sentence is now wholly inappropriate simply because the defendant was convicted by a jury rather than entering a guilty plea.”

The filing was signed by Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro and assistant prosecutors Rob Andrews and Patrick Fening.

Cessna’s felonious assault conviction was for a July 13, 2021, altercation on South Avenue in Boardman in which Cessna charged at a Boardman officer with a knife during a traffic stop and was shot by the officer, who was not injured.

The officer, Evan Beil, said he made a traffic stop on Cessna because Cessna was riding a bicycle on South Avenue near Mathews Road in Boardman in the wrong lane of travel with no lights on the bicycle while holding a baseball bat.

Beil said he was concerned for Cessna’s safety. Cessna put down the baseball bat when Beil asked him to, but Cessna refused when Beil asked Cessna to take a knife from a sheath on Cessna’s belt and toss it away.

After Cessna used profanities and would not toss away his sheathed knife, Beil called for backup, drew his weapon and told Cessna to get on the ground, Andrews said in closing arguments in the trial. Then Cessna “pulled the knife out, let out some guttural groan and started going at officer Beil,” Andrews said.