Prosecutors to proceed in retrial of Champion man on rape charge

Staff report

WARREN — The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office has received the results of a second DNA test and is prepared to move forward with the retrial of a 61-year-old Champion man on a rape charge.

Judge Peter Kontos set a trial date of Dec. 7 for Martin E. Warren, and no further proceedings are planned before that date, Judge Kontos said after talking with Alan Matavich, Warren’s attorney, and Diane Barber, an assistant county prosecutor, on Monday.

Matavich is representing Warren on a charge of raping a 13-year-old girl in his Cleveland Avenue home in 2006.

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.

Barber then received permission from Judge Kontos to submit the remaining DNA evidence recovered from the alleged victim to Laboratory Corporation of America to have what is known as a Y chromosome STR test done.

In Judge Kontos’ court Monday, Barber said LabCorp turned over the results of the lab test in July. She did not say what the results showed.

The prosecution had the additional test done to see whether it would produce a different result than the first DNA test, which was inconclusive as to whether Warren’s DNA was present.