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Struthers man facing attempted murder charge may get new lawyer
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A Struthers man charged with firing a gun near his wife’s head and their infant child may be getting a new lawyer.
Lou DeFabio, the attorney for Brian Myers, 27, made a motion to withdraw as counsel Tuesday during a pretrial hearing in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court before Judge James C. Evans.
DeFabio told the judge he and his client just do not seem to be clicking and that apparently Myers does not see eye-to-eye with him on legal tactics and defenses for his case.
DeFabio said the circumstances are strange to his client, who has never been in serious trouble before.
“This is like going from Little League to the World Series,” DeFabio said.
Myers faces charges of attempted murder, felonious assault and kidnapping, all with firearm specifications, along with a misdemeanor count of child endangering stemming from an argument he had with his wife Sept. 28 in their Parkway Street home in Struthers.
Police said Myers was enraged after he claimed his wife had filled out a tax form the wrong way, and he picked up a small dog and threw it across the room. After his wife yelled at him for throwing the dog, police said he got a rifle and shotgun from another room, forced his wife to get on her knees and hit her with the weapons and threatened to kill her.
He used the rifle to fire several shots near her head. Behind his wife their 10-month-old child was sleeping in a crib but the baby was not harmed. The wife managed to escape, and Myers took the baby to a home in Boardman where his parents live, where he was arrested by police.
He has been in the county jail since his arrest.
A trial is set for Oct. 22.
Myers told Judge Evans that he has not had any significant talks with DeFabio about his case, but DeFabio told the judge they have had three lengthy discussions since June. DeFabio also said he has given copies of legal documents to help him understand the charges and possible defenses, but Myers said he does not understand what is happening.
“It’s my life, and I’m watching it get swept away,” Myers said.
Judge Evans said he will take DeFabio’s motion to withdraw as counsel under advisement and issue a ruling shortly.