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Opening statements given in kidnapping trial
YOUNGSTOWN — A jury of four men and eight women will decide if a city man is guilty of breaking into a woman’s home, beating her and holding her against her will in May.
Daniel Austin, 51, of Forestview Drive, is on trial before Judge R. Scott Krichbaum in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on charges of kidnapping, aggravated burglary, felonious assault and attempted aggravated murder with repeat violent-offender specifications.
He was convicted of a violent crime a year ago.
Gabriel Wildman, assistant county prosecutor, said in his opening statement that jurors would hear evidence detailing how Austin took a spare key from the 50-year-old East Side woman, entered her home and waited for her to return. He said Austin beat the woman unconscious, then locked her in a storage closet.
According to Wildman, Austin told the woman he was going to kill her and leave her in a field where she would not be found. Wildman said the woman told Austin she had to use the restroom and managed to run to a neighbor’s house for help.
“This case is about accountability. We are here to hold Daniel Austin accountable,” Wildman said.
Atty. Paul Conn, representing Austin, told the jury there is more to the story than told by the woman and police reports.
“This is that infamous case of what can you believe. You will find statements to not be consistent. [The accuser] is angry, she is angry at [Dan Austin]. I am sure you will say the same thing [Dan Austin] said and that is that he is not guilty,” said Conn.
According to Conn, the woman gave several statements to police and prosecutors that conflicted. He also said Austin and the woman had a romantic relationship that spanned months and culminated with an angry call from the woman to police accusing Austin of kidnapping and assault.
The first witness for the state was the accuser, and the first thing she disputed on the witnesses stand was the alleged romantic relationship with Austin. The woman said they were friends and nothing more.
She told the jury she went to a North Side bar with a friend and returned home in the evening to find Austin inside her home. She said he jumped her from behind, put an arm around her neck and lifted her off her feet before beating her unconscious. She said he then placed her in a storage box and locked her in a utility closet.
The woman also showed the jury a cut on her forehead that she said remained from the May attack.
Conn, during cross-examination, focused on what he called inconsistencies in the woman’s statements, such as her being placed in a storage box, something not mentioned, he said, until her appearance in court.
Conn also made mention of the differing times the woman gave police and the court for her arrival home the evening she contends the attack occurred. He also asked the woman why she previously claimed to have wiggled free from her restraints but now says Austin removed the restraints to allow her to use the restroom.
Conn also questioned how Austin took a spare key to the home when the woman told police she was carrying a spare key on her the day of the attack.
Officers Carlos Rivera and Thomas Brown, Youngstown Police Department, also took the stand Monday and testified that the woman was distraught and in fear when they arrived at the home.
The officers also spoke about cuts to the woman’s forehead and arms.
Conn questioned why it took the officers more than an hour to respond to the call for a fight.
Rivera said he was not sent to the call until he started work at 1:30 p.m.
The call came in around 1 p.m., according to police logs.
Testimony is expected to continue today.
jgoodwin@vindy.com