Judge allows 2nd DNA test

STAFF report

WARREN — The judge presiding over the rape case against Martin E. Warren of Champion has allowed the prosecution to conduct a second test on fluid recovered from a 13-year-old girl to determine whether Warren’s DNA is in the sample.

Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court has ordered the prosecutor’s office to submit the sample to Laboratory Corporation of America to have what is known as a Y chromosome STR test done.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation conducted tests on the sample and came back with no determination of whether Warren’s DNA was present. LabCorp might be able to get a result with the STR test, prosecutors have said.

A jury found Warren innocent of one count of rape when he went on trial in February, but it couldn’t decide on a verdict regarding the second rape count.

The girl said Warren, 60, raped her in the basement of his Cleveland Avenue home in 2006.

The defense, which asked to conduct its own test on the sample, will be permitted to have a qualified practicing forensic scientist present during the testing. The testing will use up all the remaining evidence.

A hearing will be March 30 to set a date for the testing and a new trial date.