Trial for suspects in KFC manager shooting starts Monday

YOUNGSTOWN — The trial of the suspects in the robbery and shooting that left KFC manager Joseph Kaluza paralyzed will begin Monday in the largest courtroom in the Mahoning County courthouse.

Judge Timothy E. Franken said the trial of Taran Helms and his girlfriend Hattie Gilbert will be conducted in the fourth floor courtroom normally used by Judge Maureen A. Sweeney, and formerly used by the 7th District Court of Appeals.

The judge chose this courtroom because of its size and handicapped accessibility.

Kaluza, who uses a wheelchair and is paralyzed from the neck down, will be permitted to testify with a nurse at his side, the judge ruled.

Jury selection will begin Monday with a panel of 50 potential jurors. Each defendant will be allowed to excuse four jurors without giving a reason. The prosecution may excuse eight without giving a reason, the judge ruled in the final pretrial hearing this morning.

The judge said he would hold a defense motion to move the trial to another county in abeyance until he can determine how or whether potential jurors views have been affected by pretrial publicity.

The judge adjourned to his chambers to discuss security arrangements for the trial, which is expected to attract a large crowd, with the prosecuting and defense attorneys and Sgt. Thomas DeGenova of the county sheriff’s office.

Both defendants are charged with attempted murder, felonious assault, aggravated robbery and kidnapping with firearm specifications to all counts. Helms is charged with robbing and shooting Kaluza. Police said Gilbert drove her can in the staged crash that preceded the robbery and shooting on the city’s South Side.

For more, see Friday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com