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Man sees a split verdict in trial of 2001 crime

By Nancy Tullis

Saturday, November 19, 2005


Alonzo Green could be sentenced to eight years with four years' credit.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A trial of a city man accused of the kidnapping, beating and rape of his former girlfriend ended with a much different outcome than a 2001 plea-bargain that resulted in a 24-year prison sentence.
A jury in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Friday found Alonzo J. Green, 31, innocent of kidnapping and two counts of rape but guilty of felonious assault for beating her.
Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Krueger expressed disappointment in the verdict and said the victim is "obviously devastated" by what happened to her.
During closing remarks Thursday, Krueger called Green "a monster, a liar and a con artist" who hoped the jury would believe his testimony, which she called a fairy tale.
Green will be sentenced later on the assault conviction. The maximum penalty is eight years in prison, but Green will receive four years credit for time served, Krueger said.
Green pleaded guilty in 2001 to attempted rape, felonious assault and kidnapping, and in 2002 Judge Maureen A. Cronin sentenced him to 24 years in prison, nine years more than the 15 years prosecutors recommended.
The 7th District Court of Appeals, however, overturned Green's plea and sentence in 2004 and remanded the case back to Judge Cronin for trial.
Green had a different defense counsel in 2001, and Green's current lawyer, Ted Macejko Jr., said he believes the case was remanded in part because the appeals court determined that Green's former legal assistance was ineffective.
Macejko said there were elements missing in the case, including that the woman had several chances when she was away from Green that she could have called police.
What was alleged
Prosecutors had said Green never let the woman out of his sight before he finally dumped her outside St. Elizabeth Health Center and drove away. Green kidnapped the then-20-year-old woman from her Salem area apartment in April 2001, prosecutors said, and drove her to an abandoned building in Youngstown, where he held her captive for several days, raped her and severely beat her, causing significant injuries.
Green countered that story Wednesday when he testified on his own behalf. He said he met the woman through a mutual friend in December 2000. She never refused his sexual advances, he said.
On the days in question in April 2001, they argued and fought at an apartment they shared in Salem and he wanted to break off the relationship, Green said. Her injuries, he contended, occurred as a result of a fight at a Youngstown house with several women.
Green said he broke up the fight and he and the woman drove around Youngstown and slept in the car, then booked a room in a motel on Belmont Avenue in Liberty Township. Green said he went to sleep and the woman left for about two hours, then returned to the motel.
tullis@vindy.com