O’Brien readies for capital murder trials
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WARREN -- Only three weeks into his first year on the bench, Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Sean O'Brien was handed his first two capital murder cases, which are nearing trial dates in the coming months.
Co-defendants Patricia Zarlingo and Brendan Daviduk potentially face the death penalty if convicted of charges in connection to the January 2023 house fire that killed 16-year-old Chassidy Broadstone.
The Zarlingo case has seen some delays. Set to begin today, the trial but was rescheduled to July 23.
"We were ready to go on April 1, and I know the defendant seemed to want to go. The jurors were called in, and I didn't want to have to push that back, but things like that happen, where something unexpected was found that defense counsel needed to have more time to evaluate," O'Brien said, adding the delay was out of caution given the nature of the case.
Daviduk will stand trial May 14.
O'Brien, who served as a Trumbull County prosecutor then as a state representative and state senator, said the weight of the responsibility presiding over capital cases that could result in the end of a defendant's life is something he thinks about often.
"It's a lot different from any other case where, at the end, I may have to sign the death certificate," O'Brien said. "There's a lot of pressure to think you have somebody's life in your hands."
With a year of making judgments on criminal and civil matters, O'Brien said the challenges a capital case presents requires more procedure and due process.
"Those types of cases, you have to make sure 10 times over that the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed," O'Brien said.
Jury selection will be done in Judge Andrew D. Logan's courtroom because of its size as hundreds of potential jurors will be polled compared to the 40 to 50 that O'Brien said normally would be interviewed for other trials.
One of the challenges O'Brien foresees will be selecting a jury pool that can be impartial despite media coverage. That concern will be addressed during jury selection to ensure they have an unbiased jury, he said.
Another aspect of trying to tame public perception, he said, has been the decision to allow Zarlingo and Daviduk to be in court in civilian clothing.
If found guilty in a capital case, the trial then heads into a second phase called the penalty phase. During it, the defense team is given the chance to have a mitigation expert gather information that could lend toward reducing the severity of the penalty leveled against a defendant.
Zarlingo's attorneys sought a mitigation expert, who was given two opportunities to observe her with her children in the hope findings from those sessions can give insight into her character that could spare her a potential death sentence.
Making sure those parts of the process are followed could save the trial court from future appeals.
"The appeal process is always in the back of your mind. You want to make sure you're not getting appealed because re-trying this case would come with a significant cost to taxpayers and be a burden to the defendant, the state, whichever way the appeal came back, so we have to make sure we get it right the first time," O'Brien said.
Heading into the two cases, O'Brien lost two key components of any judge's courtroom -- his court reporter and his bailiff left, causing him to bring on two new staffers to assume the roles.
O'Brien said other experienced court staffers have helped steer the ship along by training his new staff.
ADVICE FROM JUDGES
Despite the nerves, O'Brien said he is confident in his office's preparedness. O'Brien said he has sought advice from his colleagues, Logan and Judge Ronald Rice, who O'Brien said he prosecuted cases in front of for 10 years when Rice was a judge in Eastern District Court in Brookfield.
"It's been helpful to have the senior judges advising me on the things to make sure I'm keeping an eye on certain issues, because they've been through this before. So there's value in having experienced peers to help me when I do have questions," O'Brien said.
Acknowledging two capital cases is a tough way for any judge to get a start, Rice said the common pleas court takes an "all-hands on deck" approach to help judges and their staff get through capital cases.
Reflecting on his own experience with capital cases, Rice remembered the trials of Kashaun Williams, who avoided death, and the trial of Nasser Hamad, who averted the death penalty after killing two people and wounding three others outside his state Route 46 home.
"We had death threats with people threatening to kill me and kill everyone and then you had people with signs in their yard that said 'Impeach Rice, Free Nassar.' It was kind of a circus, but neither Williams nor Hamad got the death penalty and I feel the juries made the right call," Rice said.
To his friend and colleague a floor below his courtroom, Rice offered his advice telling the first-year judge to "be careful, be prepared, pay attention."
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