A Newton Falls man has been convicted on several felony charges by a Portage County jury.

Verdicts of guilty were returned for attempted aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, felonious assault and aggravated burglary.

David Smith was originally convicted in a case involving an attack using a hammer.

However, the U.S. Sixth District Court issued a writ of habeas corpus which ordered Smith's release by March 13, 2025 due to a technicality.

Prosecutors were compelled to try Smith a second time, but the court did not permit the victim to identify Smith as the perpetrator since the Sixth District found the identification to be suggestive, even though she was sure that he was the perpetrator.

A news release on March 11 from the desk of Portage County Prosecutor Connie Lewandowski released on Facebook outlines the original case details.

The victim testified that Smith hit her over the head multiple times with a hammer before leaving her for dead in an incident on October 16, 2015. 

Despite multiple injuries to her skull and face, she regained consciousness, exited her mobile home and walked across the street to her friends' trailer where she collapsed on a wheelchair ramp.

Despite severe injuries, she survived the attack, spent time in a medically induced coma and underwent months of rehabilitation.

Evidence from the case included DNA that linked Smith to the case, authorities finding that he washed off the victim's blood in the bathroom of the mobile home.

A certified crime and intelligence analyst testified that Smith's cell phone registered on a tower nearby to the victim's location at the time of the attack.

The jury deliberated the facts of the case for four hours before returning verdicts.