WARREN — A 29-year-old Youngstown resident pleaded guilty to one count of domestic violence in the assault of a pregnant woman on June 4.

Freeman V. Bankston, 4250 Hillman Way, Apt. 2, is accused of assaulting a woman known to him while in a Liberty Township motel.

Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Gabriel Wildman and defense attorney Alexander Keane agreed to seek a sentence of seven months in prison.

Wildman told Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice that the victim has been uncooperative in the prosecution of the case.

He added, however, the prosecution has enough evidence to obtain a conviction. A person convicted of a fifth-degree felony assault can receive six to 12 months in prison and a $2,500 fine.

Westcott Rice, on her first day as a common pleas court judge, decided to have a presentencing investigation done before determining the sentence.

Westcott Rice, of Brookfield, was formerly a judge on the 11th District Court of Appeals. She served in that position since 2003. She had worked as the presiding and administrative judge of the court, which handled appellate cases in Trumbull, Ashtabula, Geauga, Lake and Portage counties. She was a federal prosecutor and assistant county prosecutor.

The Bankston hearing was one of approximately 38 cases Westcott Rice heard during Monday’s criminal court day.

She took a few moments to get her footing, sometimes being advised by longtime prosecutors who have served on the common pleas court level.

One woman, Khadija Abdul Aziz, who was in court on a probation violation of escape, made it clear she did not want a trial or another hearing. She simply wanted to plead guilty and serve nine months in prison, so she could get on with her life.

“Coming back and forth to court is not good for me,” she said.

Aziz’s escape charge was based on her not reporting to her probation officer when she was supposed to.

As Westcott Rice read Aziz her rights, the defendant, almost impatiently, repeated she understood everything the judge was telling her. For a few times when Aziz clearly did not understand, her attorney, Keane, explained what the judge meant.

James M. Burnett, 24, 61 S. Beverly Drive, Youngstown, is facing charges of burglary and felonious assault.

Burnett is accused of removing an air conditioner from a Warren Township home and then beating the woman who lived in the trailer so severely that he broke several facial bones.

Burnett had been given a 10 percent $100,000 bond, meaning he only had to pay 10 percent of that amount. Wildman argued, however, that because of the severity of the assault the bond should be increased to $75,000.

Westcott Rice agreed to the $75,000 bond.

Attorney David Engler successfully requested the court to allow his client, Philip D. Honzu, an additional 90 days before his March trial to allow prosecutors to talk to potential witnesses to the hit-and-run incident.

Honzu, 41, 1305 Brighton Ave., is charged with failure to stop after an accident and tampering with evidence.

Honzu is believed to have been the driver of a white Jeep Grand Cherokee that at approximately 4:15 p.m. Dec. 2, 2021, drove through a red light at Laird Avenue and East Market Street in Warren striking Roy R. Mason, who was riding a motorcycle.

Mason, 52, of Howland, died from multiple blunt force injuries at Trumbull Regional Medical Center.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled to take place Feb. 6. The trial is scheduled to take place March 27.

Westcott Rice’s first few months on the bench are expected to be full as the court works through cases that were slowed as officials worked to replace retired Judge Peter Kontos.