Charges dismissed against 1 defendant

The prosecutor said she needs time to examine
evidence received Tuesday.

YOUNGSTOWN — Charges have been dismissed against one of four defendants alleged to have occupied a stolen car from which shots were fired in a rolling gunbattle with pursing police 21⁄2 years ago. The prosecutor requested the dismissal.

They could be refiled, however.

Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court dismissed seven counts of felonious assault with gun specifications against Brandon C. Jackson, 23, of Truesdale Avenue, on Thursday — just before his jury trial, which was to begin Monday.

Gina Buccino Arnaut, assistant county prosecutor, requested the dismissal. She said that she received potentially exculpatory evidence Tuesday and that the state wouldn’t have enough time to thoroughly investigate it before Monday.

Although the prosecution maintained that three police officers saw Jackson at the shooting scene, Jackson’s lawyer, David Engler, said he had six witnesses, including a mail carrier, ready to testify that Jackson was elsewhere at the time.

Two other defendants, Craig Franklin Jr., 19, of Glenwood Avenue, and Jumal Edwards, 23, of Woodcrest Avenue, have been convicted by juries and sentenced to 105 and 97 years in prison, respectively, in this case.

The trial of Duniek Christian, 22, of North Garland Avenue, who authorities say was the driver of the stolen car, is pending. The chase occurred July 1, 2005, on the city’s East Side, after Edwards carjacked a church secretary at gunpoint. Shots were fired at police from her car.