His trial attorney did not use that fourth challenge to remove the juror and was therefore “ineffective.” The opinion notes that upon further questioning, the juror admitted that presuming guilt was wrong and that the attorney may have then decided this juror was potentially better than an alternative might be.
Ultimately, the defense challenged and had removed three jurors, but the opinion states that the defense did not use a fourth available challenge to remove the juror in question. The opinion, however, says this juror was initially not clearly identified during jury selection.
The common pleas court erred by allowing one juror who indicated prior to the case being tried that he was leaning toward conviction because of the number of accusers against Cooper.
According to Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction records, Cooper is currently incarcerated in the Toledo Correctional Institution. Judge Becky Doherty sentenced Cooper to 12 years in prison and determined him to be a Tier III sex offender, which requires him to register with the sheriff’s office of any county he lives and/or works in every 90 days for life upon release from prison. The Record-Courier does not name victims of sexual assault. The jury found Cooper not guilty of gross sexual imposition in connection with a Ravenna woman’s allegation that Cooper inappropriately touched her at her father’s Ravenna apartment. More: Former probation officer denies sexually assaulting women More: Third woman testifies in case against former probation officerĬooper denied all allegations made against him while testifying at his trial, but a jury found him guilty of first-degree felony rape in connection with the Newton Falls woman’s accusation and third-degree felony sexual battery in the case of the Streetsboro woman in October 2020. The Streetsboro woman was under Cooper's supervision at the time of the allegations. More: Women testify their probation officer sexually assaulted themĪ Streetsboro woman testified that Cooper kissed her and coerced her into giving him oral sex at her family's home in 2017. According to the opinion, Cooper had visited the woman’s apartment with the parole officer supervising her case a week before the assault. A Newton Falls woman said he raped her at her Newton Falls apartment while she was on parole.