Supreme court appoints visitng judge to hear Martin case

YOUNGSTOWN

The state Supreme Court has appointed a retired Stark County Common Pleas Court judge to hear the death penalty cases of two men accused of murdering a real estate agent in 2010 and leaving her in a burning home.

Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor appointed retired Judge Virgil Lee Sinclair Jr., who will have a pretrial hearing on the case for all parties on June 27.

Robert Brooks, 29 and Grant Cooper, 25, are each charged with aggravated murder with death penalty specifications, aggravated arson and aggravated robbery for the Sept. 20, 2010, murder of 67-year-old Vivian Martin, a cancer survivor and owner of Essence Realty.

They were arraigned in common pleas court Oct. 13, 2010, but the case has yet to come to trial.

The case was assigned to Judge James C. Evans, who recused himself from the case June 9 on the grounds he is retiring Sept. 1 and will not be able to hear it.

Davida Brown, a daughter of Martin, said she is glad a new judge has been appointed and she hopes this will speed the case along. She and other family members have been critical of the lag in the case.

“It’s about darn time,” Brown said. “Hopefully now we’ll get some justice.”

Read the complete story in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.