YOUNGSTOWN Shot-out windshield case argued

The case, now being considered by a jury, centers around a shotgun attack in a supermarket parking lot.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Jurors were to decide today whether Jerome Brooks shot out the windshield of another man's car with a sawed-off shotgun.
Brooks, 45, of East Philadelphia Avenue, is on trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, charged with felonious assault.
Testimony began and ended Wednesday. Defense attorney Jeffrey Limbian called no witnesses.
Jurors were to hear closing arguments this morning, and then receive instructions of law from Judge R. Scott Krichbaum before beginning deliberation.
Statements
Assistant Prosecutor Deena Calabrese said in her opening statement that Brooks fired a shotgun at 50-year-old Robert Bell outside the Augusta Market on Augusta Street on Aug. 9.
She said Brooks was jealous because he thought Bell was "messing around" with his girlfriend. Bell, though, said from the witness stand that he was not involved with the woman at that time.
Bell said he and Brooks used to "hang together" as friends for about eight years before the shooting.
Bell said he and his wife went to the store that day to buy ribs and other supplies for a barbecue. Brooks approached him in the parking lot and made a comment about Bell seeing Brooks' girlfriend later that day.
Bell said he left the store, but returned later that evening.
"I used to hang out there," he said.
When Brooks saw him that time, he got out of his own car with the shotgun and walked toward Bell, who was still in the parking lot, Calabrese said.
She said Brooks pointed the gun toward Bell and pulled the trigger. Bell was not hit, but the blast shattered the windshield of his car. Bell got into the car and drove away.
Defense counters
Limbian said the evidence against Brooks is flimsy and painted Bell as a convicted felon with a sordid past.
"It could have been someone else from Robert Bell's scuzzy world" who had a reason to shoot at him, Limbian said.
Bell said he served time in prison for a felony drug conviction.
bjackson@vindy.com