Man found guilty for part in 2001 killing

YOUNGSTOWN -- It took a jury just under two hours to find Ceyanie D. Dubose guilty of being involved in the death of Marcus Bradley in 2001.
The 10-woman, two-man jury Thursday found Dubose innocent of the charge of aggravated murder with a gun specification and innocent of the lesser offense of murder with a gun specification.
The jurors, however, did find him guilty of complicity to murder with a firearm specification. Complicity means the person is just as guilty as if he had committed the crime.
Dubose, 28, of Lora Avenue, displayed no emotion as the verdict was read.
Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains said complicity to murder carries a penalty of 15 years to life imprisonment with an additional three years on the gun specification.
"This young man threw away his life," Gains said. "I hope other young people will look at this verdict and realize the consequences of their actions."
Douglas B. Taylor, one of Dubose's defense lawyers, said, "All we can do is submit the evidence to the jury and let the jury make the decision. I felt there was insufficient evidence to support the verdict and we will appeal."
Taylor was assisted in the two-day trial by Atty. Ronald E. Knickerbocker.
Judge James C. Evans of common pleas court set sentencing for this morning.
Recapping the crime
Police charged Dubose with killing Bradley, also known as Marcus Moore, during the early morning of Nov. 12, 2001. Police found Bradley's body at Mercer Avenue and Hoffman Street on the city's South Side. Bradley had been shot three times in the head.
Police didn't arrest Dubose and his cousin, Edward L. Dubose, 23, however, until June 2003, after getting tips from informants that they may have been involved in Bradley's death.
Edward Dubose goes on trial later this year on charges of aggravated murder with a firearm specification.
During his closing argument, Gains told jurors that the testimony of prosecution witnesses Wilson Taylor, convicted of drug offenses, and Ben E. Kelly, convicted of involuntary manslaughter, should be believed because they told the truth.
"These guys aren't angels," Gains said. He later added that the state doesn't like to cut deals with convicted felons in exchange for their testimony, but does so sometimes "because we have to."
"You don't get swans from a sewer," the prosecutor added.
He told the jurors most of the evidence presented was circumstantial. Neither Wilson Taylor nor Kelly saw Dubose shoot Bradley.
But Wilson Taylor was in the car with Dubose, his cousin, Edward Dubose and Bradley the night of the shooting, Gains said. Taylor later saw Ceyanie Dubose at a home with blood on his T-shirt. He said Ceyanie Dubose also implied that he and his cousin weren't after Taylor but "that other dude."
Alibi at issue
Gains said the defense's alibi witness, Angelique McKinney, shouldn't be believed. McKinney said Ceyanie was with her at her Liberty apartment the night before the shooting and was at her apartment until at least around 6 a.m. on Nov. 12.
The prosecutor said she couldn't remember what happened that night until Dubose's sister called her and told her what to remember. Further, McKinney never called police to offer her alibi that Dubose was with her the night of the shooting.
Knickerbocker, in his summation, told the jurors the state failed to prove the key elements of the crime -- that Dubose killed Bradley and that he did so by prior calculation and design.
He said investigator Detective Sgt. Daryl Martin of the Youngstown Police Department, once he found evidence the car may have been used in a homicide, never impounded the vehicle to run additional tests.
Martin also testified that Bradley, who was involved with illegal drug activity, usually carried two guns with him at all times, and that Bradley had told others someone owed him money. Knickerbocker told the jurors they could infer that "other people wanted him [Bradley] dead."
He said McKinney told the truth about Ceyanie Dubose being with her. She did lie and tell Liberty police Dubose wasn't there, but when Dubose found out police were looking for him, he came out to speak to them.
"Does it make sense for a person who killed someone to run out and ask the cops, 'What's going on?'" Knickerbocker said.
The testimony of Kelly and Taylor should be completely disregarded, Knickerbocker said, especially Taylor's because he testified he was high from smoking marijuana that night. Knickerbocker said Taylor really didn't know what was going on.