By ALLISON WOOD

Staff Writer

After holding office for 20 years, Medina County Prosecutor Dean Holman said he still loves the job.

“I like trying cases, I like public service,” he said. “It’s very satisfying to help victims of crime.”

The incumbent Democrat is facing Republican newcomer Mario Russica, a former judge advocate in the Marine Corps and prosecutor in Florida.

Russica

Russica, 38, of Montville Township, said this is his first time running for elected office and he decided to do so because of his desire to serve and his interest in prosecuting cases.

“Public service is a big deal for me,” said Russica, who currently holds the rank of major in the Marine Corps Reserve. “The best job you can have is a prosecutor. They have a heavy burden, but prosecutors do it every day.”

A Brunswick native, he graduated from Brunswick High School in 1988 and enlisted in the Marines before graduating from Baldwin-Wallace College in 1994 and Cleveland-Marshall College of Law in 1997.

He spent five years on active duty as a judge advocate, where he dealt with labor and environmental issues along with working as a prosecutor. This gave him the leadership experience necessary to be an effective county prosecutor, he said.

“That’s what gave me a strong foundation,” Russica said. “Two things I have learned are to be yourself and recognize it’s not all about you.”

Before moving back to Ohio in 2006, he spent two years as a prosecutor in Florida handling drug and other felony cases and was deployed for about a year to the Horn of Africa.

If elected, he said he would ensure violent and sexual offenders get tough sentences along with making sure townships are getting the legal counsel they need.

He said he also is interested in conducting youth outreach programs, which he said could help kids from ever entering the criminal justice system.

He is currently employed by the Youngstown office of Reminger Attorneys at Law, which specializes in civil litigation.

Holman

Holman, 58, of Guilford Township, said if he is re-elected, he and his staff will continue the excellent work they have accomplished.

He said his office has a 98 percent conviction rate and has been successful in prosecuting several high-profile cases. These include the recent convictions of 12 men and women involved in a marijuana-growing operation out of basements in the Brunswick area; Steven Latham, who shot a sheriff’s deputy in his yard in 2006; and Alton Cromartie, who stalked and attacked his former boyfriend at his family’s Brunswick home.

“In the Cromartie case, we subpoenaed 10 out-of-state witnesses,” Holman said. “It was one of the most interesting cases I’ve ever worked on.”

Latham received a 27-year prison sentence while Cromartie received 19 years.

On the civil side, he said his office successfully challenged a new state Senate bill that would limit townships’ zoning abilities and successfully recovered $500,000 that was wired to the wrong party.

Holman said he also is proud of the child support enforcement division’s recent efforts at tapping into the pensions and other funds of those who are behind on child support payments.

“We’ve done a great job,” Holman said. “We continue to do good, solid work on both sides of the aisle.”

In the future, he said he would like to help start a countywide child response abduction team, which would create a centralized law enforcement agency to handle incidents when they occur.

Holman is the current president of the Ohio Prosecuting Attorneys Association, a professional organization. This year, members are debating whether the state should allow open discovery, where defendants would get all of the state’s evidence against them, including police reports and witness statements. Medina County does not currently have open discovery, but Summit County and others throughout the state do.

Holman said the current law, Criminal Rule 16, discloses enough to defendants if prosecutors follow it correctly, and he has concerns some victims may not come forward if there is open discovery.

Russica said he is in favor of open discovery because defendants should know what information the state has in their case.

“Everything that we can disclose, we should disclose,” he said. “It shouldn’t be a game of ‘gotcha.’ ”

Wood may be reached at 330-721-4050 or allisonwood@ohio.net.