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Former fraternity member pleads guilty
By: Susan Tebben | The Athens Messenger
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An Ohio University student pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Athens County Common Pleas Court to stabbing a former fraternity rival during an bar fight.
Patrick Barry, 21, pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree felony charge of aggravated assault, but avoided prison time by entering into a diversion program, according to the plea agreement. He was originally charged with felonious assault.
“This was a young, drunken mistake made by two parties that were too intoxicated to think reasonably,” said Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn.
Barry was a member of the Sigma Pi fraternity in February, when he used a broken glass bottle to stab Michael Gallas three times in the midsection, according to the indictment. Gallas was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha.
The assault was reported to have been caused by a “heated discussion” inside a Court Street bar, which continued outside the bar, according to previous Messenger reporting. When the two reached Courtside Pizza, Blackburn said, the argument became physical.
Although the wounds were not life-threatening, they led to a hospital visit, for which Barry will have to pay, according to the agreement.
Restitution of $4,876.24 was set in the agreement, payment for medical bills, and Barry has to pay $1,160 in jail restitution for the more than two weeks he served in jail.
Before the guilty plea, defense attorney Bob Toy attempted to get eyewitness identifications suppressed in the case. He argued that the identification of Barry was “an act of vengeance” and that Barry was identified “through faulty police procedures,” Toy’s motion in August stated.
If Barry violates the terms of the agreement, he will face prison time without a jury trial, the agreement stated.