New trial expected for Mantua man convicted in child sexual abuse case
A new trial is expected for a Mantua man who was sentenced to 27 years in prison for alleged sexual abuse of a girl for more than eight years.
More:Mantua man convicted for sexually abusing girl appealing 27-year sentence
In an opinion filed Dec. 12, Ohio's 11th District Court of Appeals reversed the conviction of Jason J. Snider, 48, and remanded the case back to Portage County Court of Common Pleas.
"We're happy with the results," said Adam Parker, the attorney who represented Snider during the appeal. "We're glad that the court of appeals is holding the state to following the rules."
Parker declined additional comment.
More:Mantua man gets 27 years in prison for sexual misconduct with girl over 8-year period
As of Wednesday, no new hearings had been set in the case. Portage County Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci said he expects a status hearing will be scheduled after Jan. 1, and then a pretrial hearing and a trial date will be set.
"We're going to retry it," Vigluicci said.
According to court records, the charges stemmed from allegations that Snider began sexually abusing the girl in July 2009, when she was 6, and it lasted until January 2018, when she was 14.
More:Jury funds Mantua man guilty on a dozen felony counts including attempted rape involving girl
A jury found Snider not guilty in July of two counts of first-degree felony rape, but found him guilty of two lesser counts of second-degree felony attempted rape that were not included in his indictment. Snider also was found guilty of six counts of gross sexual imposition and two counts each of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and sexual battery, all third-degree felonies.
Prior to the verdict, Judge Becky Doherty accepted a prosecutor’s motion to dismiss 14 additional felony counts, including five counts of rape, four counts each of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor and sexual battery and one count of gross sexual imposition.
Doherty sentenced Snider in August. He is currently incarcerated in Noble Correctional Institution, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
Witness testimony found improper
According to the opinion, the girl first reported the alleged sexual abuse to her foster mother in spring 2018 and then to a pediatric sexual assault nurse of the Children's Advocacy Center of Portage County. The girl subsequently recanted the allegations, but then later said the allegations were true. She testified against Snider during his trial.
The appeal focused on procedural errors with expert witness testimony during the trial.
The witness, an Akron Children's Hospital physician, testified about a report on how most child sex abuse cases there is a delay of some extent in the victim's disclosure. However, the testimony went outside the scope of the report when the witness also explained why a juvenile sexual abuse victim might recant allegations, including feelings of guilt, encouragement to recant or threats by others and a lack of maturity.
Snider's attorneys argued it was improper to allow testimony involving a matter not previously provided to the defense in the report. It was also argued that this testimony likely influenced the verdict.
They further claimed Snider received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial attorney did did not object to this testimony.
Appeals Judge Matt Lynch, who wrote the opinion, agreed that both of these claims had merit for overturning Snider's conviction and sending the matter back to the trial court for further action. Judge Thomas Wright concurred.
In a dissenting opinion, Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice wrote that while she agrees the witness should not have been allowed to testify about a matter not included in his report, she did not believe the defense attorney was ineffictive for not objecting to the testimony.
Rice said the lack of an objection could have been a defense strategy and even if it was not, she believes it was a "harmless error."
Reporter Jeff Saunders can be reached at jsaunders@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Appeals court orders new trial for Jason Snider in sex abuse case
