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Change of venue sought for Realtor homicide case
YOUNGSTOWN
Lawyers for a defendant awaiting a capital murder trial in the death of a local real-estate broker are asking for a change of venue and a gag order due to what they say has been extensive pretrial publicity.
Attys. Ronald D. Yarwood and James S. Gentile filed the motions Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on behalf of their client, Robert S. Brooks, 26, of Castalia Avenue.
Brooks and his co- defendant, Grant P. Cooper, 21, of Sulgrave Drive, Brookfield, face the death penalty if convicted in the Sept. 20 murder of Vivian Martin, a 67-year-old real estate broker, who was killed in an East Side house.
Martin’s badly burned body was found inside a Nelson Avenue house that had been set afire. The house had been listed for sale by Martin’s Essence Realty.
Brooks and Cooper face charges of aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, aggravated arson and kidnapping in Martin’s death.
“This county has been so saturated with the facts underlying this case that it is impossible for the defendant to receive a fair trial” in Mahoning County, Yarwood and Gentile argued on behalf of Brooks.
“Only a trial in another county will allow for the empaneling of a jury composed of impartial persons,” they wrote in their motion for a change of venue.
Attached to the motion were numerous local newspaper and Associated Press wire stories about the case.
The other motion asks the trial judge, James C. Evans, to impose a gag order that would bar prosecutors or any other state, county or city officials from discussing the case with the media.
Specifically Yarwood and Gentile objected to a statement to The Vindicator by Dawn Cantalamessa, an assistant county prosecutor, that both defendants had confessed.
Such public statements could prejudice potential trial jurors, the defense lawyers said.
Judge Evans has not yet ruled on the motions.
Atty. Thomas E. Zena, who represents Cooper, said he’ll file a motion for a change of venue for his client, but Zena said he wouldn’t file a motion for a gag order.
The trial dates for Brooks and Cooper are still unknown.