COURT Ballistics show gun not used in shooting

Jurors heard detailed testimony about the scene of the 2003 killing.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A gun found during the search for the weapon used in a fatal shooting in 2003 wasn't involved in the crime, according to a ballistic expert testifying Friday in the murder trial of two Youngstown men.
And another gun that authorities believe may have been used in the crime has never been found, an attorney for one of the defendants said.
Jurors heard testimony Friday from Jonathan Gardner, a firearms investigator for the Ohio Bureau of Investigation and Identification. A Youngstown police officer who investigated the crime scene also testified Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Stephan Breedlove, 20, and Glenn R. Scott, 21, both of Youngstown, are charged with aggravated murder with gun specifications in the Nov. 23, 2003, death of James Revere. They face life imprisonment if convicted.
Casings not related
Gardner testified that ballistics tests concluded that 11 9mm shell casings found at the scene of the shooting on Hayman Street did not come from a gun that police found in a house on Berkeley Street in December 2003.
Tests were also conducted on nine casings from a .380-caliber weapon, and on seven fired bullets, six of which were taken from Revere's body during an autopsy.
Gardner said that results indicated that all of the .380 bullets were fired by the same gun. But a gun of that caliber that police suspect was used in the shooting is still unaccounted for.
"Any firearm that was used on Hayman Street has never been found," Attorney Ted Macejko Jr. said after Friday's testimony.
Later trial date
He represents Scott, who police reports say shot into Revere's car, along with Breedlove and a third man, Keon L. Richardson, 20, also of Youngstown.
Richardson will go on trial later this summer.
Friday's testimony focused on the results of ballistics testing and the investigation of the crime scene.
In questioning by prosecutor Tim Franken, Gardner explained what investigators look for in testing bullets and shell casings. By looking at markings left on bullets and casings, it's possible to trace bullets to a specific firearm, he said.
Franken asked about the bullets from the .380, including one found in the driver's seat of Revere's car.
"The slugs you found were either in the boy's body or in the car, correct?" he asked.
"Yes," Gardner responded.
Impossible details to determine
But in response to a question from Atty. Louis DeFabio, who represents Breedlove, Gardner said it was impossible from ballistics testing to determine exactly when a gun might have been fired or who fired it.
Jurors also heard testimony about the crime scene from Youngstown police officer Robert Mauldin, who works with the department's crime lab.
Franken showed Mauldin two magazines -- chambers in which bullets are placed for firing -- from a 9mm gun, and asked him if sliding a bullet into the clip would produce a usable fingerprint.
Mauldin said it wouldn't.
The trial in the courtroom of Judge Jack M. Durkin resumes Tuesday, and is expected to conclude sometime next week.