Hermanio Joseph's appeal denied; conviction stands in fatal school bus crash

Yahoo

04-04-2025

Apr. 4—The conviction of the minivan driver who crashed into a Northwestern Local Schools bus in August 2023, killing one student and injuring two dozen more just outside Springfield, was affirmed in the Second District Court of Appeals on Friday.
Hermanio Joseph was found guilty of first-degree felony involuntary manslaughter and fourth-degree felony vehicular homicide in a May 2024 trial. He was sentenced to a prison term of 9 to 13.5 years.
The appeals court ruled Friday to affirm the trial court's judgment.
Clark County Prosecutor Dan Driscoll said Joseph's appeal "was an attempt to mischaracterize what happened during the course of the trial and to diminish the hard work put into this case, by law enforcement and the Clark County Prosecutor's Office."
"Mr. Joseph's appeal failed because it relied on exaggeration and sensationalism and fell short on truth," Driscoll said. "We are satisfied that this brings a close to this painful chapter and hope the healing process can continue for everyone involved."
Jessica Manungo, Joseph's appeal counsel, had argued that members of the jury had demonstrated bias in part due to media coverage and negative publicity against Haitians, and that his counsel at the time had been ineffective when he did not renew a motion to change the venue after jury selection.
In court filings, Manungo argued that by failing to revisit the issue of changing the venue, the trial court prejudiced "Joseph's substantial rights by denying him a fair trial by an impartial jury."
In a brief, Manungo argued that "the trial court abused its discretion and created structural error when it denied" Joseph's change of venue motion, "violating his rights to due process and to a fair trial by an impartial jury." She also argued that the court erred when it failed to reconsider Joseph's motion after jury selection.
The appeals court, in its ruling, disagreed. Appeals Court Judge Chris Epley — writing an opinion with which Judge Michael Tucker and Judge Mary Katherine Huffman concurred — wrote that "there was not a clear and manifest showing that pretrial publicity was so pervasive and prejudicial that an attempt to seat a jury would be a vain act."
Epley wrote the impartiality of one of the jurors, whose granddaughter taught in the Northwestern school district, was "a closer call as to actual bias," but ended up not reaching that standard.
In voir dire, when asked whether she could be impartial, the juror had said she "questioned it to myself" and that "it's a fine line with me."
Epley wrote that the juror's "honest self-reflection fell short of being a smoking gun," and that "some modicum of doubt is not dispositive." He wrote that taking into account all of the things that the juror said, "we cannot conclude that Juror 10 exhibited actual bias against Joseph."
Manungo did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
During the trial, Joseph, a Haitian immigrant, testified he has a Mexican driver's license and Ohio ID card, but no Ohio driver's license. Joseph testified during his trial that he has temporary protected status for immigration purposes, and did not get an Ohio driver's license because he did not have the necessary documents.
The crash occurred on the first day of the school year for Northwestern Elementary School students. A driver and 52 elementary school students were aboard the bus.
An Ohio State Highway Patrol crash reconstruction expert said Joseph's vehicle crossed the centerline of Ohio 41 near Lawrenceville Road in German Twp.
The bus driver steered the bus to the shoulder to try to avoid a collision, but Joseph's vehicle struck the side of the bus, which went down an embankment and flipped on its top.
Aiden Clark, 11, was ejected out of the top emergency hatch as the bus flipped, and was killed. Two dozen other students were injured in the crash.