YOUNGSTOWN Appeal loss keeps killer on death row

YOUNGSTOWN -- A city man on death row for killing a store clerk in 1994 will remain there after an appeal was denied by the 7th District Court of Appeals.
Mark A. Brown, 30, was sentenced to death in February 1996 for killing Isam Salman, 32, during a robbery at Midway Market on the city's North Side. He also was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing Hayder Al-Turk, 30, during the robbery.
In a separate appeal, the 7th District judges upheld Brown's convictions in 2001. That appeal is pending before the Ohio Supreme Court.
In this appeal, Brown had argued that a common pleas judge had improperly dismissed his petition for post-conviction relief, which is a civil petition used to request a new trial. He contends he was denied due process because he lacked effective counsel to assist with the petition.
In a unanimous decision Monday, the three appeals judges said the petition is considered a civil matter and the right to effective counsel is not protected. The judges also said Brown was not entitled to a hearing before the petition was dismissed.
The judges also ruled as meritless Brown's contentions that a juror was coerced by the trial judge into the conviction and that Brown's trial counsel was ineffective.