Wednesday, April 22, 1998
Sheriff, two others enter not-guilty pleas
By Jefferson Wolfe
Staff Writer
Three men indicted in Seneca County Common Pleas Court by a special prosecutor have pleaded not guilty, but only one appeared in court.
Former special deputy James Panuto appeared in Judge Michael P. Kelbley's courtroom with attorney Dean Henry to plead not guilty to burglary, a fourth-degree felony. Panuto is charged in connection with a break-in at the home of Jerry and Pamela Priddy, 2011 W. CR 592. The charge stems from an investigation by special prosecutor Timothy Hord, a former Hardin County prosecutor.
He was released after signing an own-recognizance bond with the stipulation he have no contact with the Priddy family.
Kelbley presided over the arraignments, but he will step aside for Lucas County Judge Steve Yarbrough for the remainder of the cases.
Also stemming from Hord's investigation, Sheriff H. Weldin Neff and former Neff campaign worker are accused of stalking Alice Dohner, a former sheriff's dispatcher. Neff and Smith filed not guilty pleas late Monday afternoon to misdemeanor charges of menacing by stalking and complicity.
Henry is representing all three men. He said in a misdemeanor case, the defendant is allowed to enter a plea without being present.
Also, Kelbley granted a motion to amend the indictment, extending by a year the time during which Smith and Neff are alleged to have stalked Dohner.
The original indictment specified the offenses took place between April 17 and June 24, 1997. The amendment changes that to April 17, 1996 to June 24, 1997.
''It increases the potential for my clients' liability, but it also increases the potential for their defense,'' Henry said. ''So, it cuts both ways.''
Dohner sent a letter to Neff last week, saying she felt the working conditions she faced constituted a constructive discharge from her position. Neff issued a release which stated his office was treating Dohner's letter as a resignation.