Conviction upheld in murder

March 18, 2011 at 12:00a.m.

By Peter H. MILLIKEN

YOUNGSTOWN

The 7th District Court of Appeals has unanimously upheld the conviction of a 35-year-old city man in the shooting and near decapitation of a 20-year-old man, who was killed in a Cain Street crack house.

In a Wednesday ruling, the court upheld the conviction of James A. Hudson Jr., of West Ravenwood Avenue, in the Aug. 13, 2008, death of Jajuan Robbins, whose last-known address was on Pasadena Avenue.

After a jury trial, visiting Judge Thomas P. Curran of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court sentenced Hudson to 24 years to life in prison, consisting of 15-to-life for the murder, three consecutive years for the firearm specification and six consecutive years for a repeat violent-offender specification.

The repeat-violator specification stemmed from Hudson’s 1996 aggravated-robbery conviction.

In his appeal, Hudson said the jury’s guilty verdict went against “the manifest weight of the evidence.” However, Judge Mary DeGenaro wrote: “The record contains substantial credible evidence from which the jury concluded that the state had proven all of the elements of murder, including the identification of Hudson as the perpetrator.”

Judges Gene Donofrio and Joseph J. Vukovich concurred in the decision.

Prosecutors said Hudson was the doorman at the South Side crack house, where he argued with Robbins, pistol-whipped and mutilated him and used a broken iced-tea bottle to nearly decapitate him.

The coroner said Robbins suffered three gunshot wounds to the head and died of gunshot and sharp-force injuries.

The prosecution presented 10 witnesses, including a prostitute who said she saw Hudson pistol-whip Robbins until the gun broke, and several city police officers and Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation firearms and DNA experts.

A DNA expert testified that Robbins was the major DNA contributor and Hudson was the minor DNA contributor to the revolver handle.