Friends and family of a New Philadelphia woman struck and killed by a drunk driver learned that the man charged with her death would be taking the case to trial after an appeals court overturned his conviction. (Tusco TV) 

NEW PHILADELPHIA (Tusco TV) - An appellate court decision is reopening a vehicular homicide case and taking away a family’s sense of closure nearly two year’s after losing their loved one to a drunk driver. 

33-year-old Paul Grove, Jr., of Baltic, was sentenced last year to 18 years in prison after pleading guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges for a 2017 crash that killed 54-year-old Jeanene Indermill of New Philadelphia and injured two others. Grove later filed an appeal with the Fifth District Court of Appeals who ultimately overturned his conviction because the court failed to inform Grove that one of the charges he pled guilty to carried a mandatory minimum sentence.  

Judge Elizabeth Thomakos during a status hearing apologized to Grove and Indermill’s family and placed the blame on herself for the oversight.

"I apologize to you for my mistake. I apologize to the victims and victim representatives because it really does create a lot of extra work for everybody, a lot of extra stress and emotion I’m sure for you, for them, so we just need to move forward from here," the judge said.

Grove’s attorney, Amanda Spies, during the same hearing, argued that Grove should be released on a personal recognizance bond ahead of his trial next month. 

"Mr. Grove should have been released from prison immediately and returned to Tuscarawas County and placed on a reasonable bond. I don’t believe with due respect to the court that a $500,000 bond is reasonable," she said. "He should have been placed on an own recognizance bond with conditions if the court felt that was appropriate."

Tuscarawas County Assistant Prosecutor Amanda Miller said the state opposed Grove being released due to the seriousness of the allegations against him.

"He admitted to drinking six beers before crossing the yellow line on the curve into two motorcycles. He had a breath test of 0.12 shortly after the accident at the post. Jeanene Indermill was dead by the time she went to the hospital. Matt Indermill spent months in the burn unit in pain we cannot imagine. Mark Preston has had to undergo multiple surgeries to put his ankle back together. That will never be the same again," she said.

The judge ultimately agreed to remand Grove back to the Tuscarawas County Jail with no bond reduction and scheduled his case for trial on July 16th. Miller says they’re ready to try the case and have been for the last 12 months.

"When the appellate court reversed, of course, the evidence hadn’t changed, and so we as soon as it got sent back to us, we asked for a trial date within 60 days and the judge has obliged," she said. 

Miller says they just want to get this resolved as soon as possible for the sake of the victims and their families. 

"This particular case, this particular crime had an incredible ripple effect," she said. "There are scores of people that have been just permanently hurt and disabled by this man’s actions and to have that reversed and now that we’re being told we have to go to trial, it’s a severe blow but these are very strong families and the state’s going to do everything we can to get it through, to get it done as quickly as possible." 

TUSCO TV