Appeals court backs Marrero conviction

ELYRIA – The 9th District Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of former Lorain police Officer Stanley Marrero.

Marrero, 45, was convicted last year of misdemeanor charges of intimidation, dereliction of duty and public indecency and served 60 days in the county jail. He also was fired.

Marrero`s attorneys argued in his appeal that there wasn`t enough evidence for Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Edward Zaleski to find the 17-year veteran cop guilty of the charges.

But the appeals court ruled that Zaleski made a reasonable decision in convicting Marrero of the charges, which centered on whether he had threatened a woman he asked for oral sex in 2006 and for failing to break up and report a fight between two women with whom he was having affairs.

Marrero is still awaiting trial on rape and other charges stemming from 16-year-old allegations that accuse him of forcing himself on a woman while responding to a call at her home. He has pleaded not guilty to those charges.

One county student named merit scholar

ELYRIA – An Open Door Christian School student was the only Lorain County student to win a National Merit scholarship.

The scholarship, which provides between $500 and $2,000, are awarded by the school to which the student was accepted. Galen E. Buttitta, of Amherst, won his from the University of Oklahoma, where he plans to study astrophysics.

Erin Graffis, of North Olmsted High School, and Emily Atherton, of Olmsted Falls High School, also won scholarships to attend Ohio University to study journalism.

More than 4,700 students will receive National Merit scholarships this year at 201 higher education institutions.

Morano recognized by turf growers

LORAIN – State Sen. Sue Morano has been named legislator of the year by the Ohio Lawn Care Association and the Ohio Turfgrass Foundation.

Morano was honored for her support of Ohio`s green industry, according to a news release from her office.

She recently introduced a bill that would declare the last week of May “Ohio Turfgrass Week.”

“In today`s struggling economy, the turfgrass industry is exactly what Ohio needs,” she said in the release.

The turfgrass industry does about $3 billion worth of business in Ohio and employs more than 41,000 people, the release said.

Siblings get violent over computer

ELYRIA – A 15-year-old girl allegedly cut her brother with a steak knife when the two argued about a computer Wednesday afternoon.

Police were called to a home in the 500 block of Bon Air Avenue about 4:11 p.m. for a domestic violence call. Officers found the 21-year-old brother with a one-inch cut on his left arm and a three-inch scratch on his body and the sister with blunt-force injuries on the left side of her neck, Elyria police Lt. Phil Hammonds said.

During the argument, the two became physical and the girl grabbed a steak knife, telling police she stabbed her brother in self defense, Hammonds said.

Cannon was treated and released from EMH Regional Medical Center in Elyria and was arrested and charged with domestic violence immediately after, Hammonds said. Charges of domestic violence were also sent to Juvenile Court for the 15-year-old, he said.

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