Mistrial Declared Over Evidence Sharing in Belmont County Rape Case; Trial Reset
A trial in a rape case dating from 2005 ended with a mistrial during the second day of proceedings due to an apparent oversight in information sharing between the prosecution and defense.
Belmont County Common Pleas Judge John Vavra has scheduled a new trial.
Fred Hlinovsky, 54, of Morristown-Flushing Road, Flushing, is facing one count of rape and one count of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. Technological progress has recently made prosecution of the case possible.
Assistant Prosecutor Chris Gagin gave background on the case. The offense allegedly happened at a residence in Holloway where Hlinovsky was visiting on Aug. 13, 2005. The alleged victim -- a 14-year-old girl at the time -- was also visiting the home. They did not know each other beforehand, and Hlinovsky would have been in his mid-30s at the time.
"He was investigated back then, DNA samples were collected. Initial testing showed there was DNA material there, but the science wasn't good enough yet to make a match, and that is why it took so long. But in 2019 the DNA material was resubmitted for testing," Gagin said. "A match to Mr. Hlinovsky ... his DNA was included in those that it could have come from at the time."
Jury selection and opening arguments took up Tuesday's proceedings. On Wednesday, Chief Detective Ryan Allar of the Belmont County Sheriff's Office was testifying about the process of collecting and storing evidence during a long period of time and one of Hlinovsky's defense attorneys was cross-examining when the issue of the report arose. A report of the sexual assault nurse's examination of the victim apparently was not shared with the defense attorneys.
Allar and the attorneys consulted privately while the jury went to lunch.
About an hour later, Vavra heard arguments from the prosecution and defense without the jury present and agreed that a mistrial was appropriate - but not a mistrial with prejudice, which would have prevented the case from going to court again. Vavra set a new trial for Aug. 9.
Hlinovsky's attorneys, Elizabeth Osorio and Zach Mayo of the Law Office of Brian Jones, said the information in the report touched on the analysis conducted by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification and any issue of how the DNA evidence was collected, matters potentially vital to the case that the defense had not known to investigate.
"Justice in this case requires that we grant a mistrial. ... That information should have been provided," Vavra said.
Vavra apologized to the jury. He also noted the proceedings have so far had cost Belmont County about $1,500.
"Our entire justice system requires that this process be open and fair to both sides," Vavra said from the bench. "That has not happened. We have wasted hours, days of time. We have had more than 40 jurors here. We have paid them for being here, and we have wasted their time, including the 13 who are in the second day of this process. The court is very upset about that. It should not have happened."
Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan later released a statement.
"The collection and analysis of evidence from 17 years ago has proven difficult. Prosecuting sexual assault cases can be filled with many obstacles and adding the passage of nearly two decades only serves to make our job more difficult. We, along with the Belmont County Sheriff's Office, are however motivated by the fact that a then-14-year-old was sexually assaulted and she, above all else, deserves justice. Provided the trial court allows another trial to proceed, this office will again be ready to present evidence to a jury just like we did over the last few days."