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Appellate court upholds convictions in 2008 East Side fire that killed 6
Photo
Michael A. Davis
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YOUNGSTOWN
A three-judge panel of the 7th District Court of Appeals unanimously has upheld the aggravated- murder and aggravated- arson convictions and the 310-year prison term for Michael A. Davis, who set the East Side house fire that killed six people three years ago.
In a 42-page decision released Monday, Judges Gene Donofrio, Joseph J. Vukovich and Cheryl L. Waite ruled that police properly warned Davis of his constitutional right to remain silent before he confessed twice to setting the Jan. 23, 2008, house fire on Stewart Avenue.
Judge Donofrio wrote that Judge R. Scott Krichbaum of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court “did not act unreasonably, arbitrarily or unconscionably” in imposing the prison term on Davis.
In his appeal, Davis argued unsuccessfully that his lengthy prison term was a violation of the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishments.
Killed in the early morning blaze were Carol Crawford, 46; her daughter, Jennifer Crawford, 23; and Jennifer’s children, Ranaisha, 8, Jeannine, 5, Alisha, 3, and Brandon, 2. Five other people survived the fire.
Judge Krichbaum imposed the long prison term after a jury convicted Davis, then 18, of Bennington Avenue, but spared him from the death penalty.
Davis argued unsuccessfully in his appeal that his convictions were “against the manifest weight of the evidence” and “inconsistent with the evidence and testimony presented at trial.”
“The main question at trial was whether appellant was the individual responsible for starting the fire. The manifest weight of the evidence proved that he was,” Judge Donofrio wrote.
“While his defense team tried to suggest that someone else started the fire, appellant offered no explanation for why he would have confessed to starting a fire that killed six people if he had not been responsible,” Judge Donofrio added.
The appeals court agreed with Davis on one issue, saying Judge Krichbaum erred in admitting trial testimony from a neighbor whose house was similarly torched three weeks before the fatal blaze.
Although it found that testimony prejudicial, the panel said the error was harmless.