YOUNGSTOWN Jurors convict two in robberies

Each defendant was acquitted on one felonious assault count.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A sentencing hearing is set for 10 a.m. next Wednesday for two 17-year-old boys convicted Tuesday on multiple charges in robberies of a Marmion Avenue couple and an 84-year-old Miller Street man in January 2001.
After eight hours of deliberations Tuesday, a jury of eight women and four men convicted James Goins and Chad Barnette, both of East Indianola Avenue, both on 11 counts plus five gun specifications. Both were acquitted on one count of felonious assault.
They were tried as adults in the courtroom of Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, where the trial began March 4, and they are both facing 261/2 to 851/2 years in prison.
Reaction: Barnette's lawyer, Mark Lavelle, asked for, and the judge granted, a one-week delay in sentencing to give the defense lawyers adequate time to prepare to present mitigating factors, such as the youthfulness of the defendants.
"I'm terribly disappointed. Now, it's incumbent upon us to prepare for sentencing," Lavelle said after the jury rendered its verdicts.
Lavelle and Goins' lawyer, Damian Billak, said they weren't sure if they'd appeal and would have to discuss the matter with their clients.
The crimes: Goins and Barnette were charged with multiple counts of attempted aggravated murder, receiving stolen property, aggravated robbery and burglary, felonious assault and kidnapping.
They were charged with breaking into the home of William Sovak, 84, robbing and brutally beating him and leaving him in a locked fruit cellar, and with assaulting and robbing Louis and Elizabeth Luchisan in their home the same night.
Goins was acquitted on one count of felonious assault on Louis Luchisan, and Barnette was acquitted on one count of felonious assault on Elizabeth Luchisan.
Both defendants have been in jail unable to meet bond since their January 2001 arrest, and Judge Krichbaum revoked their bonds after their conviction Tuesday.
Assistant prosecutors Michael Maillis and Jay Macejko declined to comment until after sentencing.