MURDER TRIAL Convicted killer tells of jail-cell confession

The defendant's first conviction was overturned because the judge did not allow testimony from jail inmates.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A convicted killer who testified in the murder trial of Christopher Scott has pointed the finger at another man as the one who pulled the trigger.
Donnell Cuthbertson, 29, told a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court jury on Tuesday that he overheard another man admit the crime when they were locked up together at the Mahoning County Jail.
Kendrick Mickel said "that he tried to kill that n----- and he don't understand how Lori Townsend got hit," Cuthbertson testified.
In January 1997, Townsend, 16, was shot in the head through the window of a car in which she was a passenger. She was an ex-girlfriend of Scott, who is accused of aggravated murder for the shotgun death.
Scott, 23, also is charged with the attempted murder of Albert Byrd, who was with Townsend in the car. According to testimony in the first trial, the bullet was intended for Byrd.
Cuthbertson said he was cleaning his cell when he overheard Mickel make the comment to Scott.
Mickel also was charged in the killing, but prosecutors dismissed charges in July 1997 and granted him immunity for his testimony against Scott. He originally told jurors Scott was the shooter.
Second trial
This is Scott's second trial on the charges.
In December 1997, a Mahoning County Common Pleas jury found him guilty.
Judge Maureen Cronin sentenced Scott to life in prison, but the 7th District Court of Appeals overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial because Judge Cronin had prevented three county jail inmates from testifying at the first trial that they had heard Mickel admit the shooting. She is again presiding over the case.
Cuthbertson said he did not tell police of the conversation he overheard because "it wasn't important to me. ... I was in jail with my own trouble."
He also testified that Scott had told him that he had left his girlfriend's house and was going to the store with Mickel when they saw Byrd and started running toward him. Scott said he "stopped to take a leak" and heard gunfire before running away, Cuthbertson testified.
Cuthbertson has been in state prison since 1998 on murder, aggravated assault and burglary convictions.