By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
There were few, if any, surprises Tuesday when the prosecution presented its case on the opening day of the Jared Slagle trial in Common Pleas Court. That doesn’t mean there weren’t plenty of contentious moments.
The 38-year-old Slagle is facing a maximum prison sentence of 18 months if convicted of fourth-degree felony drug possession. It became obvious during the opening statements by prosecutor Ryan Hoovler and defense attorney Thomas Nicholson had a completely different interpretation of the facts to be presented to the jury.
Hoovler was interrupted several times during his opening statements with objections from Nicholson. Hoovler told the jury that he would present evidence that indicated 9.65 grams of powder cocaine were discovered in the Neuman Avenue house in Galion rented by Slagle and his wife Sara. In addition to the cocaine police recovered marijuana, scales, and other drug-related items along with three rings which became a focal point.
Hoovler said the search of the home on Dec. 8 was the result of the execution a search warrant prompted by a voluntary statement given to Galion police Dec. 7 by Sara Slagle.
Hoovler also predicted during his opening statement that the entire issue would come down to the credibility of Sara Slagle. Nicholson immediately made Hoovler’s prediction more than a mere premonition beginning with his opening statement.
Nicholson opened by telling the jury, “There’s a lot Mr. Hoovler didn’t tell you. There’s a good reason he didn’t tell you.”
Nicholson said the Slagles were having marital problems. Jared Slagle had told his wife he wanted a divorce. The threat of the divorce, Jared Slagle hiding his wife’s wedding rings and the threat of losing custody of her children from a previous marriage, all drove Sara Slagle to fabricate the story she told police on Dec. 7, Nicholson said. Nicholson also stated Sara Slagle was a known cocaine user herself.
“In essence, we believe that this is a he said/she said thing,” Nicholson said. Calling Sara Slagle a tragic figure, Nicholson added, “Sara’s telling everybody what they want to hear – police, children’s services, and even Jared Slagle.”
The prosecution called six witness during Tuesday’s daylong session including five officers from the Galion Police Department. Hoovler and assistant prosecutor Rob Kidd reconstructed the events leading up to and including the search warrant that was executed Dec. 8.
Detective John Bourne initially took Sara Slagle’s statement the evening of Dec. 7. Slagle was accompanied to the station by Holly Hartman. Hartman is the finance’ of Sara Slagle’s ex-husband Ken Fritz who has physical custody of Sara Slagle’s two youngest children. Hartman also works for Richland County Shildren’s Services. Sara Slagle has custody of the older two children who lived with her and Jared Slagle along with Jared’s son, Blake Whitt.
Sara Slagle told Bourne that Jared was keeping cocaine at the house and selling it in small quantities. She told police she was worried he would get caught and because the cocaine was in the house she would be implicated and go to prison. Bourne said Sara Slagle was visibly emotional and upset at the station when she gave the statement.
Officer Bob Burkey prepared the search warrant and was present when it was executed. Detective Kevin Schafer was also present during the search and testified along with Detective Dan Clark and Officer Stephen Knapp.
Schafer also interviewed Jared’s son Blake Whitt who lived at the house and admitted he had used cocaine the day before and in fact tested positive. A straw with residue was found in the Whitt’s basement bedroom along with marijuana. Whitt denied the cocaine found in the upstairs spare bedroom closet along with scales belonged to him. He also told Schafer he did not know about any alleged cocaine use or trafficking by his father.
The policemen’s testimony also showed that no one was home when the search warrant was executed, but Jared Slagle and Whitt were seen in the vicinity of the house, stopped and taken into custody.
Nicholson, on cross examination of each police officer, asked if they knew Sara Slagle was a “known cocaine user.” But each officer denied hearing that or being aware of it.
Sara Slagle testified next. She outlined how a verbal argument on Nov. 23 escalated into one that turned physical. She said that was when Jared Slagle told her he was going to divorce her but couldn’t afford to move out of the house until he had some money.
Sara Slagle testified Jared had been abusive in the relationship and had even broken her leg at one time. She testified that even though she had shared parenting with Ken Fritz, she would not bring the younger children into the home she shared with Jared “because there was so much violence.”
During her testimony she outline that Jared had told her he had as much as 20 grams of cocaine and was selling it in small quantities to avoid being caught by police with a large amount that could result in trafficking charges. She said he said needed the money to get a place to live and buy a car of his own.
Slagle said the couple had another argument two days prior to her statement to police. At that time Slagle told her he was going to sell her wedding rings to raise additional funds.
Sara Slagle also testified Jared would take her to work and use her car to take the cocaine to his buyers who would call him at their home. It was during a visit to her children at the Fritz home in Shelby on Dec. 7 that Fritz and Hartman convinced her to go to police, accompanied by Hartman.
Hoovler also played two audio recordings of Sara Slagle’s two visits to Jared in the Crawford County jail after his arrest. Sara could be heard in the recording telling Jared she was afraid of losing her children and being coerced to provide information. She could also be heard professing her love for Jared and not wanting him to go to prison.
Sara testified after the recordings were played that she had lied to Jared because she did not want him to know she was the one that had gone to the police on her own. She said she was afraid he was going to get out on probation and come after her.
“I had to know how mad he was, to know if he got out if he would come after me,” Sara said on the stand. “I told him anything I could to convince him I loved him so he wouldn’t come after me if he got out.”
During his cross examination, Nicholson pointedly asked Sara if the jail recordings were the truth and her testimony to the jury was the lie.
“Absolutely not,” Sara said.
Sara also denied Nicholson’s accusations of her own drug use, that her turning Jared in was to get back at him for threatening to divorce her, or for taking her rings.
Following Sara Slagle’s testimony, the prosecution rested its case. The defense will put on its case when the trail resumes at 8:30 Wednesday morning. The trial is the first presided over by Judge Sean Leuthold in Common Pleas Court.