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Resh found not guilty Tears of joy fill Portage County courtroom

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Marci Piltz
April 18, 2007

By Marci Piltz
Record-Courier staff writer
Tears of joy and long overdue sighs of relief filled a Portage County courtroom Wednesday after Randy Resh was found not guilty in the 8 murder of Connie Nardi.
"I never thought this day would come," said a tearful Resh, 43, as ecstatic friends and family celebrated in Judge Laurie Pittman’s courtroom of Portage County Common Pleas Court.
As soon as Pittman dismissed the jurors and left the bench, Resh picked up a cell phone and called his lifelong friend, Robert Gondor also charged in the murder and set to face retrial on May 14 to tell him the news.
"He said we did a good job," Resh said after he hung up the phone.
Traci Grimm, Resh’s ex-wife, said she felt "wonderful" after each verdict was read by the jury foreman not guilty to the charge of attempted rape; not guilty to the charge of murder; and not guilty to the lesser included offense of manslaughter.
"This has been a long time coming 16 and a half years," said Resh’s mother, Eleanor Resh.
Soon after exiting the Portage County courthouse, Resh bent down and pulled up his pant leg to reveal an electronic monitoring bracelet. A relative handed him a pair of wire cutters and soon, the bracelet, a condition of his January release on bond, was coming off. Resh then walked across the street to the Portage County Adult Probation Department and turned the bracelet in.
Meeting back outside with family members, Resh smiled as one person after another gave congratulatory hugs. Asked what his next move would be, Resh grabbed at his necktie.
"I’m gonna go home and change and go to Bob’s house," he said.
See Thursday’s edition of the Record-Courier for more on this story.




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20.
    Posted by schpeller April 20, 2007
Vigluicci and Buchanan=Mike Nifong

19.
    Posted by Peppermint April 19, 2007
Don't you worry Darkhorse, I'm sure Bob and Randy will take care of that little "money issue" with Portage County once this is over.

Maybe they should have it payroll deducted out of Pittman, Vigluicci, Buchanen, Craig, Holder and Muldowney's paychecks. That would be fair, wouldn't it?

18.
    Posted by Peppermint April 19, 2007
Don't you worry Darkhorse, I'm sure Bob and Randy will take care of that little "money issue" with Portage County once this is over.

Maybe they should have it payroll deducted out of Pittman, Vigluicci, Buchanen, Craig, Holder and Muldowney's paychecks. That would be fair, wouldn't it?

17.
    Posted by Peppermint April 19, 2007
Don't you worry Darkhorse, I'm sure Bob and Randy will take care of that little "money issue" with Portage County once this is over.

Maybe they should have it payroll deducted out of Pittman, Vigluicci, Buchanen, Craig, Holder and Muldowney's paychecks. That would be fair, wouldn't it?

16.
    Posted by mg47s1 April 19, 2007
WELL MR TOM BUCKSCAMMIN IT'S A LOT EASIER TO PLAY LAWYER IN TITLE, LIKE IN THE CASE OF YOU OVER AT NDS--THAN REALLY PRACTICE AT BEING A WORKING ,HONORABLE , ETHICAL, ATTORNEY AT LAW--THATS HARD WORK-- AND THEREFORE IT TAKES A MAN WITH NOT ONLY A CHEST, IT TAKES ONE WITH A WORK ETHIC--- I HAVE SEEN YOU IN THE GRAND JURY --SHAME ON YOU ! I HAVE SEEN YOU AT ACCIDENT SCENES WHERE HUMAN BEINGS LIVES ARE HANGING IN THE BALANCE AND YOU WALK AROUND MAKING SURE NOT TO GET ANY MUD ON YOUR SHOES. MAKING JOKES WITH THE THE DOUGH-DOUGH BIRD COPS ABOUT THE VICTIMS. YOU MAY NOT HAVE MUD ON YOUR SHOES BUT YOU AND THE REST OF VIC WIGGLUCCI'S HAND PICKED "CREW" HAVE PLENTY OF BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS. OH YA TOMMY BOY CARRYING A GUN DOESNT MAKE YOU A MAN -- IT MAY HELP YOU WITH YOUR FEELINGS OF FEAR AND INADEQUACY BUT IT WILL NEVER "MAKE" YOU A MAN--THAT COMES FROM SOMEWHERE YOU CANT GET TO FROM WHERE YOU LIVE . YOU AND THE REST OF THE "CREW" SHOULD RESIGN ! YOU WERE ONLY GIVEN THE JOB BECAUSE OF THE VOTES THE FAMIGLIA OF A LADY VERY CLOSE TO YOU COULD PROVIDE --- IT'S OBVIOUS IT WASNT FOR YOUR SKILL AS A TRIAL LAWYER--OH BUT YOUR BACKGROUND IS MORE IN ACADEMIA, RIGHT?

ONE LAST THING FOR THE FALSE IMPRISONED -- WITH ALL THE MONEY SEEMIGLY AVAILABLEUPTOWN FOR LAWN SERVICE,AND SILENCE, TOO BAD A NOT GUILTY VERDICT WONT GET THEM THE BIG BUCKS THEY DESERVE FOR SERVING SUCH A LONG TIME IN PRISON FOR WHAT THIS JURY SAYS THEY DIDNT DO...

15.
    Posted by Rageman April 18, 2007
Hooray!!! The jury got it right! The critically important thing now is for all charges against Bob Gondor should be dropped as soon as possible with a stipulation that the charges may NOT be refiled in the future. British Statesman William Gladstone said "Justice delayed is justice denied", but better late than never. I'm glad my verdict prediction was wrong. There was never a prima facie case against these two men from the beginning. I don't think that this verdict in any way vindicates the people running the system that imprisoned these two men in the first place or is any indication of a change in the status quo in the community. How many more Reshes and Gondors are sitting in prison cells waiting for justice to finally allow them a fair and impartial hearing. English jurist Sir William Blackstone (1760's) said, "Better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer". True then, true today. Randy Resh and Bob Gondor, their families and friends fought passionately and resolutely for eighteen years to secure justice and right the wrongs that were done. That's exactly the kind of passion and resolve that the people of Portage County must engage in together to resolve the community's problems. Get involved, speak out, take action!

See the Beacon today. They've posted all the article coverage going back to 2002. Go Beacon!!

14.
    Posted by NoKoolAid April 18, 2007
This case and other recent similar cases show it is long overdue to talk about investigations and prosecutions becoming more about winning and strategy and not about the truth and the evidence.

How does a person defend him/herself?

Start with the grand jury - The suspect can have no representation in there when witnesses are testifying. The prosecutor becomes chummy with the grand jurors and they just indict everything in front of them (ham sandwich analogy). If you are ever the subject of a grand jury you would see what I mean.

Further, if you decide to hire a lawyer and defend yourself and you lose, you are told you will suffer the consequences for fighting and losing. Many innocent people don't roll the dice and just take the shorter sentence offered by the prosecutor so they can control their destiny at times a fraction of what they would be facing. This is done out of fear and I often wonder how many people regret this later and have no recourse.

Although the jury system appeared to work here, there are a lot of morons out there sitting on jury's. They don't look at just the facts in front of them. They bring their silly political views and other prejudices into the case and can ruin your life forever.

I don't think the system is broken, I think the integrity of the people in the system has been lost. Finding the truth should be the only goal. I am seeing this get more and more personal and more about winning political elections than seeking justice. I have personally witnessed Judges joking with prosecutors about cases they are on and cops yulking it up in Portage County. If you win it should mean you had the facts on your side! Sometimes guilty men have to go free so we don't put one single innocent person in prison.

13.
    Posted by frog April 18, 2007
ha ha to all you non believers. i knew it i knew it i knew it. congrats randy and Bob

12.
    Posted by slow April 18, 2007
Could not agree more with Denise Kelly. I wish they could get Busta to be truthful before they put Gondor on trial. How sad for the Nardi's to have to relive this. How sad that two young men lost a good portion of their lives.

11.
    Posted by hair2dew1 April 18, 2007
Finally! After 16 years the truth comes out! Way to go jurors, you did the right thing. You listened, and you made the RIGHT decision.
May God Bless you Randy and your family. We will keep praying for and supporting Bob!

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