LISBON - An Alliance man filed two lawsuits Monday against an assistant prosecutor and the Ohio State Highway Patrol over a 1991 motorcycle crash which he claimed was responsible for his wife's death.

James H. Dowdy, of South Arch Avenue, filed the first claim against Tammie Jones, an assistant prosecutor for Columbiana County, saying she didn't take the time to investigate the case or help him, although Jones wrote him a letter on Feb. 2 stating that she reviewed the materials he provided on the May 10, 1991 traffic crash.

In the letter which was attached to his complaint, she said she contacted a trooper with the Ohio State Highway Patrol and "confirmed that no records relative to the crash are available either locally or at the State Headquarters. Such crash reports and photographs are only retained for a five-year period after the incident."

She wrote there was insufficient evidence to support any criminal charge or merit any further investigation.

When Prosecutor Robert Herron was contacted about the lawsuit, he said it wouldn't be appropriate for him to make any comment since there's pending litigation. Based on the information in the letter, he said there were virtually no records and that Jones contacted the patrol to see if the files were available. They were not.

The claim against the patrol said the state law enforcement agency didn't investigate what he called a "premeditated murder" that took place on May 10, 1991, saying he was the only eyewitness and had regained full recollection of what happened. He also said none of the evidence was kept, claiming his rights were violated and claiming neglect of services by the patrol for not thoroughly investigating the accident.

Dowdy attached what appeared to be a copy of one page of the original accident report, but with his own notations and drawing added, showing a truck behind a motorcycle and writing that he was hit in the back by two men in the truck and forced into the pole.

The sections of the report which don't appear altered only note one vehicle in the crash, the motorcycle, with failure to control listed as a contributing factor. The report also showed that neither the driver nor the passenger were wearing helmets. The original drawing appeared to show the motorcycle going off the right side of the road on U.S. Route 30, striking a metal pole, with the victims ejected.

According to the Salem News account of the accident from May 13, 1991: "The Ohio Highway Patrol at Lisbon said James H. Dowdy, 38, 448 N. Buckeye Road, was traveling west on Route 30 when his bike veered off the north side of the road and struck a metal pole. Dowdy and his passenger, Trena K. Dowdy, no age listed, same address, were both thrown from the bike."

The news story did not mention a second vehicle and reported both Dowdys in critical condition at a Pittsburgh hospital. A Morning Journal account of the same incident, also on May 13, 1991, noted they weren't wearing motorcycle helmets. It also didn't mention a second vehicle.

Lindsay Komlanc, director of media relations in the Public Affairs Unit of the OSHP in Columbus, confirmed that records are kept for five years, along with the current year. She said that evidence from a crash scene is either kept until a case is closed or a court orders its destruction. A case would not be closed until the crash report is completed.

In reference to the lawsuit itself, she had no comment. She said once the legal team receives service of the complaint, they'll evaluate how to respond to it.

The lawsuit did not mention when Trena K. Dowdy died, but there was an obituary listing for a Trena Kay Dowdy, 44, of Alliance, who died on Nov. 26, 2006 and was survived by her husband, Jimmy. There was also a Stark County Probate Court guardianship case for that Trena Kay Dowdy, whose next of kin included the name James H. Dowdy.

The case was opened in November 1991 due to her pending release from a rehabilitation center in Erie, Pa., with her mother appointed as guardian and Dowdy placed in a nursing home facility. The case listed her death as Nov. 26, 2006.

In the lawsuit, James H. Dowdy requested punitive damages of $500,000 from each of the defendants, along with disbarment for Jones. He's serving as his own attorney.

The case against Jones was assigned to Judge C. Ashley Pike, with the case against the patrol assigned to Judge David Tobin. No hearing dates have been set.

Mary Ann Greier can be reached at mgreier@salemnews.net