Sun, Jul 05 2009
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Published September 11, 2008 04:16 am - JEFFERSON —The vehicular homicide trial of Joseph E. Dodick, 20, opened Wednesday in Eastern County Court. Vehicular homicide trial resumes today Joseph E. Dodick charged with causing traffic death of Michael Mikulin By DORIS COOK - Staff Writer Star Beacon JEFFERSON —The vehicular homicide trial of Joseph E. Dodick, 20, opened Wednesday in Eastern County Court.
Dodick is charged with having caused the Nov. 23, 2006, traffic death of Michael Mikulin of Geneva. The Thanksgiving Day two-car crash occurred in Geneva Township. The criminal charge is a first-degree misdemeanor. If convicted, Dodick faces a maximum of six months in prison and up to a $1,000 fine. A number of Ohio Highway State Patrol officers, a certified car mechanic and Northwest Ambulance District employees testified for the state. The trial resumes at 1 p.m. today in Judge Robert Wynn’s courtroom, with County Prosecutor Thomas Sartini and assistant prosecutor Jack Kapluck representing the state. Dodick is being represented by attorneys Kristen Walter Supler and Ronald L. Frey. It took over an hour Wednesday to impanel a jury of eight jurors and two alternates. Fifty prospective jurors filled the hallway outside the small courtroom. Members of the victim’s family and Dodick’s relatives jammed into the small seating area during the trial. Among the list of prosecution witnesses expected to testify today are Mark Majetich, a crash reconstruction expert and former OHP trooper; more medical witnesses; and county coroner’s office employees. During the defense presentation, the defendant is expected to testify on his own behalf. The criminal charge against Dodick initially was filed in Western County Court after the victim died of injuries the day of the crash. The crash occurred at the intersection of New London and Myers Roads at about 3 p.m. Wynn is presiding at the trial because of a conflict of interest that Western County Court Judge Richard Stevens had in May 2007. Dodick initially pleaded not guilty to the charge in Stevens’ court. Then the case was transferred to Eastern County Court. In opening statements, Sartini said the state will prove that Dodick failed to stop at the stop sign on New London Road, negligently causing the death of Michael Mikulin, the driver of the other car involved in the crash. Mikulin and his 22-year-old brother Matt, also injured, were traveling in their grandmother’s car en route to the family’s Thanksgiving dinner. Sartini said Dodick was driving 45 mph, exceeding the 35 mph speed limit on that stretch of New London Road, based on forensic evidence. 
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