Judge throws out plea, sets trial in car ‘assault’ case

LISBON - A man charged with felonious assault for allegedly trying to hit a U.S. Marshal with a car received what he wanted Wednesday after a judge threw out his guilty plea and scheduled the case for trial.

Joshua Hughes, 26, whose last known address was 3393 Pinewood Drive, New Waterford, told Judge David Tobin of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court that he didn't mean to waste any of his time and that he was scared when he entered the previous plea.

"I never tried to harm nobody," he said.

Hughes originally pleaded guilty to the charge in September as part of a plea deal which called for county Chief Assistant Prosecutor John Gamble to recommend a three-year prison sentence. The charge carries a possible maximum prison sentence of 10 years.

On Oct. 7, the day he was scheduled to be sentenced, Hughes indicated he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial with a new attorney. His attorney had filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea and a motion to withdraw as his attorney. Tobin granted the motion for a new attorney and appointed Carl Joseph King.

The indictment alleged that Hughes tried to hit Deputy U.S. Marshal Dean Michael with his car while Michael was attempting to serve him with a warrant for failure to appear, along with some parole violation warrants, on Dec. 31 at a home on state Route 154, Negley.

Court documents said Michael identified himself as a police officer and signaled for Hughes to stop, but had to jump out of the way to avoid getting hit. Hughes fled and was later apprehended in Rogers. The failure to appear charge stemmed from Hughes not showing up for sentencing last December for a theft charge.

He's serving 18 months in prison for the theft charge after a jury found him guilty last year of stealing a truck in New Waterford in 2006.

While being questioned by King during the hearing Wednesday, Hughes claimed his former attorney didn't do anything for him and didn't interview two witnesses he claimed were in the car with him at the time of the incident.

He claimed he pleaded guilty because he was scared and didn't know what to do. When asked if he told the judge at the time of the plea that he was dissatisfied with his attorney, he said no.

He also claimed the incident didn't happen the way it was written in court documents, claiming nobody got out of a vehicle and he never knew the person in another vehicle was a cop. In his motion to withdraw plea, he claimed he entered the guilty plea because of the minimum sentence being offered, not because he was guilty.

During questioning by Gamble, Hughes said the person never exited the vehicle. He said they opened the door and he almost hit the door. He said he didn't stop because he's a known drug addict and he thought it could have been someone coming after him for money he owed. As for the alleged witnesses, Gamble questioned how he knew the previous attorney didn't interview them. He claimed they told him.

He mentoned to the judge that he was told before if he went to trial, he would have gone to prison for 10 years.

Gamble questioned if there was any deal he would accept that was less than three years, but Hughes said he couldn't out of concern for his children if he was pulled over in the future and they were in the car and the officer saw on his record that he was convicted of assaulting another officer.

Mary Ann Greier can be reached at mgreier@salemnews.net