Man convicted of murder seeks new trial

YOUNGSTOWN — One of three men convicted in a daring daytime homicide has asked for a new trial on the grounds that the state presented no evidence that he was the principal offender, and that a witness’s videotaped statement was improperly placed into evidence.

Attys. Samuel G. Amendolara and Thomas E. Zena filed the request Wednesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on behalf of Gary Crockett, 30, of Buckeye Circle.

On Dec. 4, Visiting Judge Charles J. Bannon sentenced Crockett to life in prison with parole eligibility after 33 years after a jury convicted Crockett of the aggravated murder of Martwain Dill, 23, of LaClede Avenue. Dill was shot to death as he sat in a pickup truck Nov. 3, 2006, at Glenwood and Earle avenues on the city’s South Side.

Steven Shandor, assistant county prosecutor, said Dill’s fatal head wound appeared to come from the AK-47 assault rifle Crockett fired, but it would have been difficult to prove that Crockett fired the fatal shot because the bullet passed through Dill’s head.