YOUNGSTOWN Retrial is delayed for witness search

Prosecutors have been unable to locate two eyewitnesses to the shooting.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The retrial of a Carroll Street man charged with murder has been postponed while prosecutors look for their witnesses.
Arthur Barron, 30, was scheduled for trial this week in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. He is accused of fatally shooting 32-year-old John Cannell Jr. in the chest Nov. 25, 2002, outside a house on Woodland Avenue.
However, prosecutors have been unable to locate two of their main witnesses so were not prepared to go forward. Judge James C. Evans agreed to reschedule the trial for April 5.
Wanted ring back
Authorities say Cannell was trying to get back his wife's wedding ring, which she had traded the night before for some crack cocaine. Barron drove up while Cannell was arguing with another man and interceded in the argument.
At his first trial in February 2003, Barron admitted shooting Cannell, but said it was self-defense because he thought Cannell was reaching for a gun to shoot him. Witnesses said Cannell was unarmed.
The first trial ended with a hung jury because jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, which Ohio law requires in criminal trials.
Cannell's wife, Michelle Cannell, was at the scene and testified during the first trial. However, Assistant Prosecutor Jay Macejko said, he has been unable to locate her. Brad Dunbar, another eyewitness, also cannot be found, he said.
Testimony in record
Macejko said if he cannot find the witnesses in time for the April trial date, he will ask Judge Evans to allow their testimony from the first trial to be read into the record for the retrial.
Besides murder, Barron also faces charges of tampering with evidence and illegally possessing a firearm. Those charges were levied by a county grand jury in January, based on Barron's testimony in the February 2003 trial.
During that trial, he admitted throwing away the gun he used to shoot Cannell. He also was prohibited by law from possessing a firearm.
bjackson@vindy.com