Saturday, November 20, 2004
YOUNGSTOWN -- Eugene Archer of Cohasset Drive is a free man today.
A jury in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court found Archer, 56, innocent of the charges of murder and voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Bruce Howard of Austintown two years ago.
Martin Desmond, an assistant county prosecutor who tried the case with assistant prosecutor Jay Macejko, said he was upset with the verdict but respected the work of the jurors.
"The jury spoke. The jurors weighed the evidence and, based on the evidence, made their decision. We tried to present the truth of what took place based on the evidence we had to work with," Desmond said.
Howard, of Fountain Square, was shot at the N & amp; N Supermarket on Glenwood Avenue on the city's South Side in August 2002.
Police reports said Archer surrendered to detectives a few days after the shooting.
The trial began Monday in the courtroom of Judge Maureen Cronin. The jury began deliberations Thursday and returned with the verdict Friday.