YOUNGSTOWN Murder trial ends in deadlock

The mother of the victim is glad that the defendant was not acquitted.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Sharon Dunegan says she believes Tommy Williams was the man who killed her son outside a South Side bar last Easter.
Eleven other people agreed with her, but one didn't. That one was enough to keep Williams out of prison and keep Dunegan waiting for closure.
Williams' trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court ended Wednesday morning with a hung jury. He was charged with murder in the April 23, 2000, shooting death of 26-year-old Michael P. Booker outside Pal Joey's Lounge on East Midlothian Boulevard.
After deliberating nearly 14 hours over three days, jurors sent word to Judge R. Scott Krichbaum that they could not reach a unanimous verdict. The judge declared a mistrial and dismissed the seven male and five female jurors. A unanimous decision is required in criminal cases. The jurors were deadlocked at 11-1 in favor of conviction.
Patrick R. Pochiro, assistant county prosecutor, said he will probably try Williams again, though he won't decide for sure until after reviewing the case. He was disappointed at not getting a conviction.
"They came down to 11-1, and that was it," Pochiro said.
Not freed: Dunegan said she also is disappointed, though she's glad jurors did not acquit Williams, 22, of Meadow Street.
"I could not see him walking out of that courtroom and back onto the streets when I know in my heart he did it," she said.
Pochiro said Williams remains in the county jail awaiting another trial. A date has not been set.
Defense attorney John B. Juhasz said he was disappointed that jurors could not agree and will begin preparing for a new trial.
Police said Booker had seen a Campbell man punch a woman in the bar parking lot and got into a fistfight with the man. Another man ran forward from a crowd that had gathered to watch the fight, put a 9mm handgun to Booker's ribs, pulled the trigger and ran away.
Authorities and witnesses during the trial said Williams was the shooter, but Williams denied it. He admitted being at the bar and said the Campbell man fighting with Booker was his friend.
Williams said he was looking for a gun so he could fire a shot into the air and disperse the crowd, but that he did not have a weapon on him.