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TAXPAYERS PAY THE PRICE FOR PROSECUTION
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
EDITOR’S NOTE: From now and throughout 2015, reporter Joe Gorman will take a deeper look into the issues and consequences of crime in Youngstown. Today he examines the costs that taxpayers shoulder for an ongoing murder investigation.
Crime may not pay.
But it sure adds up.
From overtime for patrol officers to calling out detectives and crime-scene officers, to removing a victim from a crime scene and paying for court-appointed counsel as well as for time officers spend testifying in court if they are off duty, extra crime-fighting costs to taxpayers often are overlooked.
The Vindicator decided to look at one homicide case and calculate the costs of the crime, such as the amount it costs to house prisoners in the Mahoning County jail while awaiting trial, how much overtime the police department racks up and how much court-appointed lawyers cost.
The case is the homicide of Maurise Kerns, 24, who was found shot to death about 3 a.m. April 1 on the front porch of a vacant house at 573 Idora Ave.
Four people are charged in Kerns’ death: brothers Breandre Allen, 27 and Bralin Allen, 26; Antwanette Kennedy, 23; and Michael Wilkins, 23.
The Allen brothers were arrested April 2; Kennedy, who was indicted with the brothers, was not taken into custody until June 6; and Wilkins was not indicted until October on a superseding indictment and was not taken into custody until Oct. 14.
The costs began to mount when Kerns was found after officers responded to a gunfire call from a gunshot sensor and found his body.
A patrol supervisor then called out Chief of Detectives Capt. Brad Blackburn. Blackburn said it is standard protocol on all homicides for a detective supervisor to be called out.
Next to be called was a team of detectives — Sgts. John Perdue and David Sweeney. Blackburn said detectives work in teams, and they rotate being on call. They are always called out as a team unless one is sick or on vacation; then another detective is called.
The total call-out overtime for the three detectives was $1,795.69, the highest of the more than $2,300 in overtime police accrued that morning.
Blackburn said Sweeney and Perdue worked overtime not only when they were called, but when their regular work day ended because they were following leads they generated, which led to the arrests of the Allen brothers the next day.
Next, a member of the department’s crime lab, or crime-scene unit, was called. Blackburn said usually only one from that unit is called out, but because the crime scene was large and there was evidence that multiple guns were used, another crime-lab officer was called to assist in collecting evidence. They received a total of 9.6 hours of overtime, or $931.36.
After the evidence was processed, a team from the county coroner’s office removed the body. Dr. David Kennedy, the coroner, said the county contracts with a private firm to remove bodies and transport them to the morgue at Oakhill Renaissance Place. The cost per call-out is $175, unless the body has to be taken to Cleveland for an autopsy, for which the cost is then $260. A trip to Cleveland was not necessary in this case.
Also held over at the crime scene were two patrol officers for one hour each and a patrol supervisor on midnight turn at a cost of $145.63. The supervisor was held over for almost two hours and the patrol personnel for one hour each.
Kerns’ death is one of 18 homicides in Youngstown so far this year. In 2013, the city had 20 homicides.
The four defendants also are eligible for court-appointed counsel, and records show that three of them do have lawyers that the court appointed. Only Wilkins has retained a lawyer, according to court records.
Typically, when someone is charged with a crime and arraigned in municipal court, they are appointed counsel there and often the same lawyer will stay on the case if it is indicted by a common pleas court grand jury and arraigned there. Judges ask a series of questions to defendants to determine if they can afford a lawyer, such as whether they have a job or any assets, before deciding if counsel is appointed.
In this case, however, the Allen brothers were arraigned in municipal court but their cases were presented directly to a grand jury without a preliminary hearing. Kennedy and Wilkins both skipped municipal court appearances altogether.
Lawyers in court- appointed cases often submit their fees when the case is concluded in common pleas court. A schedule of fees for court-appointed counsel provided by the county court assignment office caps attorney’s fees for an aggravated murder case that is not a capital case at $8,000, or $10,000 if there are two attorneys.
Lawyers in this case have not yet submitted paperwork for reimbursement.
The Allen brothers and Wilkins are still in the county jail at a cost of $80 a day. Wilkins was released from jail after she was granted bond Nov. 17.
Trial dates for the Allen brothers and Wilkins have been set for April 20. Kennedy does not have a trial date set, but she has a hearing scheduled for April 24, according to court records.