MAHONING COUNTY Man gets prison in slashing

The defendant asked for probation, but the judge sent him to prison.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Melvin White said he was merely defending himself when someone he owed money for drugs came to collect.
White said a fight broke out, during which the victim pulled out a box-cutter knife. In the struggle, White took the knife away and slashed the victim's left arm and leg.
"But [the victim] was a woman," said Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. "Usually, when a man fights a woman, the man has the upper hand."
Guilty plea
White, 28, of West Philadelphia Avenue, pleaded guilty in April to aggravated assault, which was reduced from felonious assault in the plea agreement.
White and his attorney, Michael J. Rich, asked that White be placed on probation and allowed to seek treatment for drug addiction and mental health issues.
Instead, Judge Krichbaum sentenced White on Friday to one year in prison.
Rich said White and the victim, Kendra Harper, were friends who hung out together at Harper's house. He said it was Harper who initiated the fight.
White said he owed Harper money for drugs. He intended to pay her eventually, but didn't have the money when she asked him for it Dec. 1, 2002. An argument ensued, and eventually it turned into a brawl. That's when Harper pulled out the knife, he said.
An accident
White said he didn't mean to cut Harper; it happened accidentally during the fight.
"I don't want it to look like I just ran up and attacked her and started cutting her," White said. "I was defending myself."
Rich said White was under the influence of drugs at the time.
bjackson@vindy.com