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WARREN -- A New Castle man received a consecutive, indefinite prison sentence of 10 to 13.5 years Tuesday from Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Cynthia L. Westcott for a Sept. 21 felonious assault in Liberty.
A Trumbull County jury found Justin Fry-Starrett, 33, guilty June 30 of felonious assault, domestic violence and failure to comply with order/signal of a police officer. Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Gabriel Wildman said he was pleased with both the jury's verdict and prison sentence. The verdict came after jurors deliberated for a little more than an hour.
During the trial, Wildman called two witnesses to the stand in addition to the female victim, who had to be subpoenaed by the court to testify. Wildman said the victim was reluctant to cooperate.
The case involved a Sept. 21 incident at a Liberty home where Fry-Starrett punched the victim in the face. While on the stand, the victim refused to blame Fry-Starrett or say an attack even happened.
During subsequent testimony from a Liberty police officer and a Trumbull County sheriff's sergeant in charge of the jail's call system, Wildman was able to use video and audio evidence to show that the victim on the night of the incident reported to authorities that Fry-Starrett beat her up, causing her to lose a tooth.
Testimony from the officer and his uniform camera showed Fry-Starrett was eluding the police officer in his vehicle after he was spotted in traffic on Belmont Avenue. The officer's vest camera showed the officer in pursuit on Interstate 80 as the defendant was driving eastbound toward his mother's home in Pennsylvania.
During cross examination of the defendant, Wildman showed Fry-Starrett had previous convictions for domestic violence and obstructing official business, which elevated the present domestic violence to a felony.
Wildman praised the work of the Liberty Police Department and the sheriff's office in the investigation.