YOUNGSTOWN Man faces charges in addition to murder

The matter is set for a second trial next month.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Less than a month before he is scheduled for trial on murder charges, prosecutors have secured more charges against Arthur Barron.
The 30-year-old Carroll Street man was tried last year on a charge of murder. Authorities say he shot and killed 32-year-old John Cannell Jr. on Nov. 25, 2002, outside a house on Woodland Avenue.
They said Cannell was trying to get back his wife's wedding ring, which she had traded for crack cocaine the night before.
At his trial in February 2003, Barron admitted shooting Cannell but said it was self-defense. Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court declared a mistrial because jurors were unable to reach a unanimous verdict, which is required in criminal cases.
A second trial is set for Feb. 18, but prosecutors and defense attorney Douglas B. Taylor had been engaged in negotiations to try resolving the matter through a plea agreement.
Additional charges
Those negotiations broke down, so prosecutors sought the additional charges, said Prosecutor Paul Gains. A grand jury handed up a new indictment Thursday charging Barron with the original murder count and adding charges of tampering with evidence and illegally possessing a firearm.
Gains said the new charges were based on Barron's trial testimony last year, in which he admitted that he threw away the gun he used to shoot Cannell. He also was prohibited by law from owning or possessing a firearm.
Taylor said that he was not surprised by the superseding indictment and that it won't cause him to ask for a delay of the trial.
"Everything about the case is the same," Taylor said. "I've got time to prepare."
The grand jury also returned secret indictments against two men and one woman. The charges include multiple counts of aggravated murder, conspiracy to commit aggravated murder and aggravated robbery.
Gains would not comment on those indictments because they are secret.
They will be made public only after the suspects are arrested.
bjackson@vindy.com