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Defendant wearing stun vest during murder trial
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Presented with the challenge of having to transport and watch a prisoner who had threatened to steal a gun and do unthinkable harm during his murder trial, Trumbull County officials turned to the stun vest.
Sheriff Thomas Altiere said David Martin, the 29-year-old Cleveland man convicted of murder and other charges this week in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, was outfitted with a device that works a little like a stun gun.
It consists of a slim vest that fits under the defendant’s shirt. It has a stun device similar to what is in a stun gun and can deliver electricity to the wearer’s back by pressing buttons on a remote control.
It has a locking device to prevent tampering, according to the web site of its distributor, the Nova Group. And it allows a defendant to appear to be unrestrained, so that he or she is not shackled in some way that might give the impression of guilt.
Altiere said his department has used a similar device in the past known as a stun belt. The belt is smaller and thicker.
Altiere said the department chose to use the stun vest in this situation because it is less visible than the belt.
Chris Becker, assistant Trumbull County prosecutor, asked Judge Andrew Logan of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court in March to require Martin to be restrained with handcuffs during the trial.
Becker asked for the unusual step because Martin purportedly told a Trumbull County Jail corrections officer that he was “going to grab the first I can when I have a chance to. I’m not going to death row.”
Martin could get the death penalty when the penalty phase of the trial begins Wednesday.
After Martin made the remark, the sheriff’s office warned jail personnel to be especially vigilant around Martin. Nonetheless, in April, Martin was accused of being one of three inmates who took a corrections officer hostage for five hours with a homemade weapon.
It’s the first time there has been a hostage situation in the county jail during the 21 years Altiere has been sheriff.
Since then, Martin has been housed in the Mahoning County jail and transported to the Trumbull County Courthouse for hearings and the trial.
Atty. Dan Keating, a criminal-defense attorney, said he had never heard of such a device but said it might be appropriate in the case of a defendant who had a “record of misbehavior.”
However, he said he believes there should be a finding by a judge to that effect before the device is used. “It shouldn’t be done as a matter of routine,” he said.
Judge Logan did enter a finding before the trial started indicating that the device would be used. Martin has not had any handcuffs on his hands or feet during the trial.