APPEALS Court upholds convictions of 2 city men

YOUNGSTOWN -- An Ohio appeals court has upheld the murder conviction of a 25-year-old city man accused of the 2000 shooting of another man outside the Pal Joey's bar on Midlothian Boulevard.
In the appeal, lawyers for Tommy Lee Williams had argued that a Mahoning County Common Pleas jury wrongfully convicted him. They also argued that a trial judge should have given jurors a more specific instruction regarding eyewitness testimony.
Williams was convicted of murder in 2001 for the death of Michael Booker, 26, of Austintown, during a brawl after the bar closed on April 23, 2000. He was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison for the murder with three additional years for using a firearm.
The 7th District Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the jury acted on "competent, credible" evidence and that the trial judge gave an appropriate eyewitness instruction.
Also Monday, the appellate court upheld the aggravated robbery and attempted aggravated murder convictions of James Brown, 45, of Youngstown.
Brown was convicted of robbing another man in June 2000, and shooting him four times, once in the head. He is serving two concurrent eight-year prison terms for the crimes and an additional consecutive three-year term for using a firearm.