YOUNGSTOWN Man pleads guilty to shooting

The prison term will be concurrent with a Pennsylvania sentence.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A city man accused of shooting into a crowd of people, wounding three, pleaded guilty today, ending a case that has been pending some eight years.
Marcus Smith was to go on trial Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on charges of attempted murder. The trial was put on hold, however, when lawyers reached a tentative plea agreement late Wednesday afternoon.
Smith, 27, of Halleck Street, pleaded guilty this morning to reduced charges of aggravated assault and one count of improperly firing toward a habitation.
According to the plea agreement, Judge Jack Durkin sentenced Smith to four to 10 years in prison, and ordered that the time be served concurrently with a sentence Smith already is serving in a Pennsylvania prison on unrelated charges. Under Ohio law, Smith was given credit for more than eight years he has served while awaiting trial.
Smith's attorney, Louis DeFabio, filed a motion arguing that prosecutors failed to meet their obligation to bring Smith to trial within a specified time limit. As part of the plea agreement, DeFabio will withdraw that motion, Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Franken said.
Victim's reaction
The resolution did not sit well with victim Terry Greenwood of Howland, who was 21 at the time he was shot while standing outside the house. His injuries left him having to use a wheelchair.
Greenwood told the judge that Smith should have gotten more time and complained that he felt victimized again by the courts.
His father, Terry Sr. of Howland, said he didn't like the agreement either.
Judge Durkin said he believes it was the best way to resolve the case. Had Smith gone to trial and been convicted, there was a good chance the conviction would have been overturned on appeal because of speedy-trial issues.
"This has been going on way too long, and we all want to get it over with," Franken said.
Smith was charged with a 1995 shooting outside a house on Pennsylvania Avenue, near Youngstown State University on the city's North Side.
The case was delayed in the beginning because of unrelated assault and robbery charges against Smith in Lawrence County, Pa. He was convicted of those charges in August 2000 and sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison.
Smith then was brought back to Mahoning County to face the Ohio charges. The case was set for trial many times, but always was postponed for various reasons.
DeFabio argued that prosecutors should have tried Smith by no later than Feb. 1, 2001.
bjackson@vindy.com