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Man found not guilty of murder last week arrested Friday
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
When Matthew Cochrane was acquitted of murder by a jury July 24, his lawyer told him to remember the moment for the rest of his life and stay out of trouble.
Apparently Cochrane has a short memory, as he was arrested on weapon and traffic charges one week later after police found a loaded handgun in his car.
His bond was set at $20,000 by Magistrate Anthony Sertick in municipal court Friday on charges of improperly handling a firearm in a motor vehicle and driving under suspension.
Cochrane was pulled over at Cottage Grove and East Florida Avenue about 12:40 a.m. Friday by officer Marcin Stachowicz, a police-dog handler, for running a stop sign.
When he was stopped, Cochrane appeared very nervous and told police he did not have a driver’s license, reports said. He did not turn the lights on inside his car as he was looking for his registration and insurance information and appeared to be leaning forward, police said. He was told to show his hands, which he did.
He then was taken into custody for driving with a suspended license, reports said.
His car was searched and police found a loaded .45-caliber semiautomatic handgun under the front passenger’s seat. A records check revealed the gun was reported stolen by Boardman police in May.
City Prosecutor Dana Lantz told Sertick that investigators are trying to determine if Cochrane knew the gun was stolen. If they conclude he did know, he could be charged with receiving stolen property, Lantz said.
On July 24, jurors in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court took less than 45 minutes to find Cochrane not guilty in the shooting death of Dajhon Neely, 20, of Liberty. Neely was a passenger in a car and was shot on South Avenue early March 29, 2014, where it intersects with Interstate 680, and died of his wounds two days later.
He was taken into custody in May 2014 and was in the jail until his trial was over. He served 14 months before being freed after the verdict.
After he was found not guilty, his lawyer, Tony Meranto, said he told his client: “Remember this the rest of your life. You don’t ever want to be in this position again.”
Court records show Cochrane has a 2009 charge in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court for breaking and entering into an unoccupied structure, and he was sentenced to seven months in prison after pleading guilty.
In Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, he was given sentences in 2010 after pleading to charges of receiving stolen property in two cases. One of those cases also involved a charge of failure to comply with the order or signal of police, to which he also pleaded guilty.
Records show Cochrane was sentenced to 21 months on both of those charges to run consecutive to his sentence in Trumbull County, giving him a total of 28 months in prison.
In Mahoning County Juvenile Court, records show Cochrane was charged with receiving stolen property two times, as well as criminal mischief and burglary.
No lawyer was at Cochrane’s arraignment Friday to represent him, so he was given a court-appointed lawyer.