Warsaw woman sentenced for knife attack

• Amanda F. Reichley was indicted in February for felonious assault, a second-degree felony, related to a domestic violence incident with a knife. The victim was stabbed in the back of the leg.
• Reichley received an indefinite term of 2 to 3 years in prison with 18 months to 3 years of post release control. She was granted five days of jail credit.
• Judge Robert Batchelor made Reichley's report date for prison Aug. 25 so she may see her children off to the first day of school.
• While Reichley doesn't have a criminal history and there is little chance she would repeat her crime, the level of felony gave a presumption of prison time, Batchelor stated.

COSHOCTON − A Warsaw woman was sentenced Thursday in Coshocton County Common Pleas Court for using a knife in a domestic incident earlier this year.

Amanda F. Reichley, 39, was indicted in February with felonious assault, a second-degree felony, and domestic violence, a first-degree misdemeanor, from an incident on Feb. 3. The indictment states Reichley used a knife to knowingly cause harm or attempt to cause harm to another. According to statements in open court, the victim suffered a wound to the back of the leg.

Reichley entered a guilty plea July 18 to the felonious assault charge part of a plea deal that saw the Coshocton County Prosecutor's Office dropping the count of domestic violence. The state also agreed to take no position on sentencing, judicial release or bond and did not oppose a pre-sentence investigation. The maximum sentence for the charge was 8 to 12 years in prison.

Reichley received an indefinite term of 2 to 3 years in prison and from 18 months to 3 years of post release control, or parole. She was granted credit for five days of local incarceration.

Attorney Marie Seiber argued for community control sanctions, or probation, for her client based on her lack of a criminal history, that she's no danger to the general public and the slim chance she would commit such an offense again. Judge Robert Batchelor also mentioned receiving several letters in the past few days supporting Reichley.

"This is her first event of any kind, of any type, involving the legal system in terms of, basically, poor behavior, bad behavior, poor decision making," Seiber said. "When you look at the risk of re-offending, what is the chance this same situation will arise again and that's she's involved in a relationship with someone she considers abusive and a situation escalates this much. It hasn't happened before, it's unlikely to happen again."

The victim was present in court, but didn't speak. Reichley apologized for her actions.

"It's something that should have never happened and I promise it will never happen again," she said.

Batchelor said the severity of the crime, being a second-degree felony, meant prison time was a presumption. He also noted the wound to the back of the leg meant the victim had turned his back on Reichley, indicating he was done fighting with her.

"Your mistake was when you picked up the knife during a domestic dispute. You should feel fortunate that you're not appearing in a more serious case," Batchelor told Reichley.

Batchelor did take into count what Seiber said of her client in ordering her report date for prison. Reichley has two son, ages 9 and 12. Reichley is to report at 8 a.m. Aug. 25 to the Coshocton Justice Center for transfer to prison, so she may see her children off to the first day of school.

Leonard Hayhurst is a community content coordinator and general news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune with close to 15 years of local journalism experience and multiple awards from the Ohio Associated Press. He can be reached at 740-295-3417 or llhayhur@coshoctontribune.com. Follow him on Twitter at @llhayhurst.