Court rejects appeal for sexually violent predator

WARREN – The Ohio 11th District Court of Appeals on Monday upheld the conviction and prison sentence of David Honzu, a convicted sexually violent predator, and dismissed his appeal alleging ineffective assistance of counsel.

Honzu, 66, is serving consecutive sentences totaling 77 years to life for multiple convictions, including three counts of kidnapping and two counts of rape, in connection with a 2007 cold case in Warren.

A Trumbull County jury took less than 30 minutes in October 2022 to convict Honzu of five charges related to the 2007 sexual assault of a woman walking near the old Powerhouse bar in the city’s northwest . Judge Ronald J. Rice also ruled that Honzu is a sexually violent predator and a repeat violent offender, specifications that were added to the three kidnapping cases and two rapes decided by the jury.

According to a nurse’s document read into the record during the trial, the woman reported being followed by an unknown person from the Powerhouse bar as she walked home about 2 a.m. on July 29, 2007. She described the man who attacked her as having a long face with facial hair, between 32 and 34 years old, and resembling David Letterman.

The man grabbed her and then pulled her off the street.

He punched her in the face several times and threatened further physical harm, the report said.

The woman described in the report that she thought the man had a knife, but admitted she did not see it.

He forced her to perform a sexual act. During the attack, he tried to force her to kiss him. She was held against her will until daylight.

According to the nurse’s report, the victim went door to door in an attempt to get help before someone offered her a blanket and gave her permission to call 911. She was taken to a hospital with multiple cuts and bruises.

A DNA sample was taken from Honzu and sent to the state crime laboratory for analysis. A state investigator testified that Honzu’s DNA matched evidence from the rape kit.

Honzu was identified as a sexual predator in 1995 in connection with the attack on a 6-year-old boy. In 2010, Honzu was accused of stalking a 12-year-old girl.

In September 2022, Honzu was found guilty in a trial involving the attempted kidnapping of a woman at knifepoint from a Champion car wash. In that case, Honzu received a prison sentence of 17 years to life.

The 2007 case, part of an initiative by the Ohio attorney general to clear a backlog of untested rape kits, was reopened when DNA evidence linked Honzu to the attack.

Honzu remains incarcerated at the Marion Correctional Institution.