Experts testify in case against teens

The witnesses based their expert testimony on suspects' DNA and shoe prints.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Prosecutors used scientific testimony Thursday to put James Goins and Chad Barnette at the scene of two brutal robberies last year.
Goins and Barnette, both 17, are being tried as adults in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on multiple counts of attempted aggravated murder, receiving stolen property, aggravated burglary, felonious assault and kidnapping.
They are accused of forcing their way into the Miller Street home of 84-year-old William Sovak and into the Marmion Avenue home of Louis Luchisan, 64, and his wife, Elizabeth, 60, in January 2001.
All three occupants were beaten and their homes were robbed. They testified Wednesday.
Expert's words: Dr. Lewis Maddox of Cellmark Diagnostics, Germantown, Md., testified Thursday that blood on Goins' pants and jacket came from Sovak.
In his testimony, Sovak said it was Barnette who beat him with his fists and a telephone, but he could not positively identify the second suspect.
Assistant prosecutors Jay Macejko and Michael Maillis have said Goins is the second suspect and that he helped Barnette drag Sovak through the basement of his home and lock him in a fruit cellar, where Sovak's brothers found him hours later.
Maddox said Cellmark received samples of Goins' blood-stained clothing from city police, along with blood samples taken from Sovak, the Luchisans, Goins, Barnette and a third suspect, Lamont Belcher.
Prosecutors dropped charges against Belcher before the trial because they could not prove he was at either house.
The blood on the clothing was compared with the submitted samples to check for a DNA match, Maddox said.
"It is my opinion that the blood on the clothing came from William Sovak," he said.
About shoe prints: Donna L. Rose, a forensic scientist from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, testified that shoes worn by Goins matched bloody footprints found in Sovak's basement and in the snow outside his house.
She also testified that Barnette's shoes matched a footprint on the Luchisans' side door, which was kicked in by the intruders.
Rose said the suspects' shoes matched the tread design of those in the footprints found by police, but she could not find any "unique markings" to say they were definitely the shoes worn at the crime scenes.
Defense attorneys Damian Billak and Mark Lavelle pointed out that the shoes were Nike Air Jordans, which Rose said is a popular, commonly worn shoe. Lavelle also said Barnette's footprints were not found outside Sovak's house.
There was to be no testimony today because Judge R. Scott Krichbaum will be out of town to attend a previously scheduled seminar.
Testimony will continue Monday.
bjackson@vindy.com