Mistrial is declared in assault case

A retrial is likely on seven charges.

STAFF REPORT

YOUNGSTOWN — The “unable to decide” verdicts rendered Wednesday in a felonious-assault case have produced a mistrial, and prosecutors hope to retry the defendant on some of the charges.

On Thursday, Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge James C. Evans filed a judgment entry stating that he had declared a mistrial on seven counts of complicity to felonious assault. The jury wrote that it was “unable to decide” on a verdict on those charges against Duniek Christian, 23, of North Garland Avenue.

The jury found Christian innocent of nine counts of felonious assault.

Judge Evans, seeing the unorthodox “unable to decide” notations on the jury forms, talked privately with the attorneys and decided to read the verdicts in open court and dismiss the jurors from further duty in the case.

The common practice in a criminal trial is for the judge to decide before the jury delivers its verdict whether the jury has taken sufficient time to arrive at a verdict.

At times, the judge sends the jury back to deliberate further. If it appears that the jury is hopelessly deadlocked, the judge can declare a mistrial, which allows prosecutors to try the case again.

In this case, the jury didn’t inform Judge Evans or his bailiff that it had not reached a verdict, Judge Evans said.

The case stems from charges that Christian drove a stolen Cadillac that collided with two Youngstown police cars and then drove it through the East Side July 1, 2005, while three other men in the car fired assault rifles at seven police officers.

Mark Hockensmith, an assistant county prosecutor on the case, said he will ask Judge Evans during a 9:30 a.m. hearing today to allow prosecutors to retry the seven complicity to felonious assault charges.

A person can be convicted of a complicity charge if he or she aided, abetted, supported, assisted, cooperated with or incited another in a criminal act, attorneys in the case have said.

Judge Evans said Christian would remain in the Mahoning County jail for now.