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Try Winona melee defendants separately, lawyers urge
YOUNGSTOWN
Lawyers for a mother and her daughter, who were charged in an Aug. 17 Winona Drive brawl that ended in the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy, want their clients to be tried separately from other defendants in the case.
Lawyers for Carla Higgins, and her daughter, Carlisha Hammonds, say a joint trial for all nine adult defendants would be prejudicial against their clients.
Four juveniles also have been charged in the case.
Hammonds’ lawyer, Louis M. DeFabio, also seeks to have her statement to police excluded from evidence on the grounds that police didn’t properly inform her of her constitutional right to remain silent before interrogating her.
DeFabio also asked that Hammonds’ cellphone be excluded from evidence because police seized and searched it without a warrant after the interrogation.
Martin P. Desmond, an assistant Mahoning County prosecutor, said he plans to oppose the motions, which were filed Monday.
“It would be time-consuming and expensive to the county,” if all defendants get separate trials, Desmond observed.
The South Side brawl among members of two families ended in the shooting death of Shawn Cortez.
Dejon Jenkins, 19, is charged with murder after purportedly handing a gun to his 17-year-old brother, David Jenkins, who police say shot Cortez.
The younger Jenkins is charged with murder in juvenile court.
Police and prosecutors say cellphone video shows adults egging on the fighters and Cortez being shot and falling to the ground.
Higgins is charged only with one count of obstructing justice, so it would be unfair to try her with co-defendants charged with involuntary manslaughter and aggravated riot, according to her lawyer, Ryan D. Ingram.
“The only allegation levied against defendant Higgins is that she allegedly told her daughter, co-defendant Carlisha Hammonds, not to give a statement to the police,” Ingram said in his motion asking that Higgins be tried separately.
“Trying the defendants together would highly prejudice defendant Higgins because it appears that the state is attempting to prove that Carla Higgins is guilty by her mere presence at this chaotic crime scene, rather than based upon evidence,” Ingram wrote.
“Antagonistic, irreconcilable and mutually exclusive defenses most certainly will be presented by two or more of the defendants” if there’s a unified trial, DeFabio wrote on behalf of Hammonds, who is charged with aggravated riot and involuntary manslaughter.
In a unified trial, some defendants will try to exculpate themselves and blame their co-defendants for what occurred, DeFabio wrote.
Judge Lou A. D’Apolito of common pleas court will have a hearing on the pretrial motions in the case at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 9.