Berecz found guilty on 13 of 16 charges
By Brad BauerArticle Photos
MARIETTA - A jury decided Jason Berecz was trying to kill a Washington County sheriff's deputy during an April incident near Reno, but found he wasn't intending to kill two other individuals when he fired a gun at their vehicle.
Berecz, 33, of 490 County Nine Road, Reno, was found guilty Tuesday of 13 of 16 counts in his indictment, including all counts surrounding the April 7 shooting of sheriff's Sgt. Scott Parks. Also, Berecz was found guilty of all 15 specifications included in the indictment.
The specifications require extra mandatory sentences for offenses involving guns or drugs.
Berecz faces up to 50 years in prison on the convictions. He is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 18 by Judge Ed Lane.
Berecz showed no reaction to the verdicts and said nothing as he was led out of the courtroom.
After 10 hours of deliberations Monday, the jury of eight men and four women requested a break for the night. The group resumed deliberations around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday and indicated they had reached a verdict two hours later.
The group seemed to struggle over two attempted murder charges relating to Berecz having fired a shot into a vehicle occupied by Helen "Kristin" Gragan and her son, Jared Gragan, both of Reno. Each of the other charges in the indictment had been signed and dated Monday.
"It seems they were focused on the Gragans and whether this shot into their van was attempted murder or felonious assault," said Assistant Washington County Prosecutor Kevin Rings.
The jury found Berecz not guilty of attempted murder, but said he was guilty of felonious assault for firing into the van. The difference in the verdicts will likely have minimal impact at sentencing, Rings said.
"I'm very satisfied with the jury's findings," Rings said. "He is being held accountable for all the things we said he'd done, and there were four main points: For shooting at and injuring Parks, shooting at the Gragans, shooting inside the home (and at the feet of Victoria Kyer) and the drug charges."
Jurors who were contacted at the conclusion of the eight-day trial declined to comment.
Parks, who sustained an injury to his eye and nose in the shooting, returned to work two weeks after the incident, but has not yet returned to full-time service.
Parks was in Columbus at the time of the verdict being presented with a distinguished medal of valor from the Ohio Attorney General's Office.
Sheriff Larry Mincks said he discussed the verdict with Parks.
"He was very pleased with the results of the case," Mincks said. "We were all just interested in seeing that the criminal justice system worked, and we all feel like the judge, jury, defense and prosecution did a great job."
One charge of using a weapon while intoxicated was dismissed by Lane prior to deliberations because of a flaw in the language in the indictment.
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crash36
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10-09-08 11:49 PM
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Do we have a comment about the case at all that matters or is it about what county goes to trial faster? Just curious.
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yolarry
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10-09-08 12:14 AM
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Rick was making a example that IF it happen in wood county. Same way it would go in Richie County as well
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crash36
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10-08-08 10:57 PM
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My point is Wood County was not on trial here, your comments were suppose to be toward this case not Wood County.
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RickWT
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10-08-08 7:40 PM
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My point was that criminal cases routinely take 12 to 18 months to come to trial in Wood County, as opposed to six months or less in Washington County. Repeat: there was nothing unusual about the "speed" of this trial except that there is no speed in Wood County.
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crash36
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10-08-08 1:54 PM
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What does wood county have to with this case? and yes I think the fact that an officer was shot is why the trial if over.
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notamyname
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10-08-08 7:41 AM
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That is what i wondered also Rick....6 months is a very short time ..Was it because a police officer was shot? Why can`t all trails be held this fast?
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RickWT
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10-08-08 3:34 AM
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From the day of the shooting through indictment, trial and conviction was exactly six months. If this crime had happened in Wood County we would still be up to a year away from trial. Why?
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