Jurors to view crime scenes

Officials did not expect the defendant to go along to the two locations.
& lt;a href=mailto:bjackson@vindy.com & gt;By BOB JACKSON & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The fate of Martin L. Koliser Jr. will rest with 12 people who must decide whether he killed a policeman in cold blood and shot another man in the chest at point-blank range.
If they decide that he did those things, the same panel will decide whether the 30-year-old man from Boardman should die by lethal injection or spend the rest of his life in prison.
Koliser's trial on charges of aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder began today in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. A jury of seven men and five women was seated last week and was to begin hearing testimony today.
Prosecutors say Koliser shot and killed Youngstown Patrolman Michael T. Hartzell as the officer sat in his cruiser during the early hours of April 29 in downtown Youngstown. They also say Koliser wounded Donell Rowe by shooting him in the chest outside a Mahoning Avenue bar two hours before Hartzell was shot.
After a brief orientation this morning by Judge R. Scott Krichbaum, jurors were to be taken by bus to Casaloma Gardens bar on the West Side, where Rowe was shot, and then to the site of Hartzell's shooting on West Federal Street.
Lawyers for both sides are allowed to go along on jury views but are not allowed to speak to jurors. Koliser was not expected to be taken to the two sites.
What happens next
After hearing opening statements, in which lawyers for both sides explain what they believe the evidence will show, jurors were to begin hearing testimony.
Prosecutor Paul Gains and assistant prosecutor Jay Macejko have a list of 30 potential witnesses, whom they expect to call over three or four days.
The list includes police officers who investigated the case, taxi drivers who contend they witnessed Hartzell's being shot, forensics experts and some of Koliser's friends who saw him during the hours just before and after the shootings.
Also among the witnesses are two deputy sheriffs from Summit County, where Koliser has been jailed while awaiting trial. According to court documents, Koliser told the deputies that he'd shot Rowe and Hartzell.
Jurors also will hear from an Austintown woman who prosecutors say bought bullets for Koliser eight hours before the first shooting and from the gun shop employee who sold them to her.
Koliser's aggravated-murder charge carries three death-penalty specifications. If he is convicted of any of them, he could face the death penalty at sentencing.
The specifications are that Koliser killed Hartzell to avoid detection or prosecution for another crime, that he killed or attempted to kill two or more people, and that he purposefully killed a police officer.
Under Ohio law, if jurors recommend the death penalty, Judge Krichbaum would have the option of overruling them and imposing a life sentence. But if jurors recommend a life sentence, the judge cannot impose the death penalty.
& lt;a href=mailto:bjackson@vindy.com & gt;bjackson@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;