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Dismissal of murder charges is sought
A wave of murder-charge dismissals has been sought by the prosecutor’s office.
YOUNGSTOWN — The Mahoning County prosecutor’s office seeks dismissal of charges against men it had charged in two murders, one in Youngstown and the other in Campbell.
“We do the best we can with what we have, but I think we could do better as a prosecutor’s office if we get a little bit better cases in hand,” said Robert E. Bush Jr., chief of the criminal division. “We’re not pointing any fingers, but we’re just saying that we may need to do a little bit better coming in the door, so we can get some better results out the door.”
Bush said “it’s coincidence’’ that a wave of dismissal requests has come at once from his office, which prosecutes about 1,600 criminal cases year.
On Wednesday, Bush filed a motion to dismiss a complicity to murder charge against Johnathan Dent, 17, of Lucius Avenue, in the July 8, 2007, shooting death of William Burr outside a South Avenue pizza shop. Dent was bound over from juvenile court for trial as an adult, and his jury trial was to begin Monday.
That motion is pending before Judge Maureen A. Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
Also on Wednesday, Kasey C. Shidel, assistant county prosecutor, filed a motion to dismiss a murder charge against Dominique Lucky in the Feb. 22, 2008, death of Diana Noble, who was shot in the abdomen near the Kirwan Homes in Campbell and driven to her Howland home, where she died.
Shidel’s motion is pending before Judge Lou A. D’Apolito.
“The state has insufficient evidence to obtain a conviction. The defendant is an accomplice to a hom-icide for which the principal offender, Dion Weatherspoon, was acquitted,” Bush explained in moving for dismissal of the charge against Dent.
On Jan. 15, a jury acquitted Weatherspoon, 20, of Hilton Avenue, of aggravated murder, and the lesser included offense of murder. Bush said Weatherspoon fired the shot that killed Burr, 27, of East Midlothian Boulevard, Struthers, who bled to death from a bullet wound to his chest.
“Weatherspoon was the stronger case, and the jury would not convict Weatherspoon,” Bush noted.
In the Campbell case, Shidel sought dismissal of the charge against Lucky, 19, of Gordon Avenue, Campbell, because he said witness testimony won’t show Lucky had a gun on him at the time of the shooting, and the murder weapon was never found.
Although there’s evidence Lucky was at the shooting scene, Shidel said the prosecution can’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Lucky “knew or had reason to know that Ms. Noble was going to be shot.”
Noble, 39, of Stillwagon Road, was shot while she bought crack cocaine, and the state alleges Lucky participated in that transaction, Shidel said in his motion.
After being shot, Noble drove herself and her live-in boyfriend to their Howland residence without realizing she had been shot in her left side, said Detective Sgt. Gus Nicolaou of the Campbell Police Department. After arriving home, Noble died of internal bleeding from the gunshot wound, the detective said.
On Jan. 28, Judge D’Apolito approved an earlier motion from Bush to drop the murder charge against another defendant in that case, Christopher J. Hill, 25, of Jackson Street, Campbell. The judge dismissed the charge against Hill without prejudice, meaning it could be filed again if new evidence surfaces.
Although the state alleges Hill provided the gun that may have been used to kill Noble three hours before she was shot, Bush sought the dismissal because he said witness testimony wouldn’t place Hill at the shooting scene.
“The witness that allegedly observed Hill provide the shooter with a firearm has been described as homeless and has been difficult to locate. At best, his testimony would be considered weak,” Bush said in his motion.
Bush said it appears police charged Hill and Lucky to induce them to cooperate in the investigation of Tyrell Ravnell, 18, of Halleck Street, Youngstown, who the prosecution alleges fatally shot Noble. Ravnell is set for a jury trial May 18.
“These guys would not offer any testimony and there was no credible evidence,” to implicate them in the murder, Bush said of Hill and Lucky.
Ravnell, the only remaining defendant, is charged with murder with a firearm specification.
Wednesday’s dismissal requests follow Tuesday’s dismissal by visiting Judge Thomas P. Curran of an aggravated murder charge against Melvin E. Johnson Jr. in the Nov. 15, 2007, shooting death of Marvin L. Hodges, also near the Kirwan Homes, after a key witness denied seeing the fatal shooting.
milliken@vindy.com