Ohio Supreme Court Declines to Review Mackenzie Cirilla’s Case
Mackenzie Cirilla’s latest appeal to the Ohio Supreme Court has been denied. The court opted not to exercise jurisdiction over her case, effectively upholding a previous ruling from a lower court that dismissed her post-conviction motion slightly past the designated time limit.
On June 23, the court noted that it had reviewed the jurisdictional arguments, but decided against taking the case. Chief Justice Sharon L. Kennedy signed the order.
Mackenzie Cirilla is currently serving a life sentence stemming from a fatal incident in 2022. Her case has gained renewed attention following the release of the Netflix series “The Crash.”
Cirilla, now 21, received two concurrent sentences ranging from 15 years to life for the deaths of her boyfriend, Dominic Russo, 20, and his friend, Davion Flanagan, 19. Prosecutors contend that she intentionally crashed her Toyota Camry into a brick building in Strongsville, Ohio, on July 31, 2022.
She was convicted of multiple charges, including four counts of murder and aggravated vehicular homicide. Prosecutors argued during the trial that the crash was a desperate attempt to end a toxic relationship with Russo, implying that Flanagan was an unintended casualty.
Cirilla maintains that the crash was not intentional. Her legal team recently appealed to the Ohio Supreme Court, stating that her trial attorneys did not adequately investigate her medical condition, orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). They claim this condition might have contributed to her losing consciousness before the crash.
The defense pointed out that this medical issue was only briefly mentioned at her trial, despite Cirilla and her family allegedly informing her lawyers about it. They argued that the defense should have pursued expert testimony to explore whether POTS could explain why she failed to brake before the impact.
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley has stated emphatically that they believe Mackenzie Cirilla committed murder, reiterating their position.
Earlier this year, Cirilla’s conviction was upheld on direct appeal. However, the Court of Appeals highlighted that her initial post-conviction petition had missed its filing deadline.
Under Ohio law, post-conviction petitions typically need to be submitted within 365 days of the appellate court receiving the court record. In this case, the relevant documents were filed on October 24, 2023, so the deadline for Cirilla’s filing was October 23, 2024. She submitted her petition a day late, on October 24, 2024.
Cirilla argued that the clock should’ve started later, pointing to when juvenile detention records were filed and the leap year in 2024. The Court of Appeals dismissed both points, emphasizing that the statute referenced “court records” and not supplemental juvenile records, as well as strictly adhering to the 365 days rule based on the calendar.
The court also declined to allow the late filing based on equity, asserting that the deadline was jurisdictional, and Cirilla didn’t meet any exceptions laid out in the law.
