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Commissioners OK $3,820 for expenses of trial in Akron
YOUNGSTOWN
The Mahoning County commissioners have approved up to $3,820 for travel, meals and parking for court personnel going to Akron for the current murder and felonious assault trial of Jamelle Jackson.
Jackson is on trial for a Feb. 6, 2011, shooting at a house party near Youngstown State University.
The time period is from the trial’s start this past Monday until Dec. 7, if it lasts that long.
Covered expenses include those of Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, who is presiding over the trial, his bailiff, and one or two court stenographers, said Robert Regula, Mahoning County Common Pleas Court administrator.
“That is a worst-cost scenario,” Regula said of the $3,820 figure. “I think just two cars are going every day,” he added.
Mahoning County’s court personnel are making the trip from Youngstown to Akron daily, and no overnight hotel accommodations are included in the sum the commissioners approved Thursday.
The trial was moved to Akron and a jury of Summit County residents was selected because of concerns about the influence of pre-trial publicity on potential jurors in Youngstown.
This is the first time in 19 years that a Mahoning County trial was moved to another Ohio county.
Jackson, 20, of West Boston Avenue, is on trial for the 2011 shooting, in which Jamail Johnson, a 25-year-old YSU senior, was killed, and 11 others were wounded.
For any day the trial goes past 5 p.m., Summit County deputy overtime costs must be paid by Mahoning County, but those costs, if any, aren’t included in the above figure.
In other action, the commissioners awarded a $38,605 contract to Foust Construction Inc. of Girard for a safety upgrade on Wood Street in Lowellville, which is being funded by the federal Community Development Block Grant Program.
The job, to be performed next spring, includes removal and replacement of about 1,300 feet of curbing and seven driveway approaches on Wood Street between Third and Sixth streets. It also includes excavation of an embankment along Third Street.