Bond set at 500k for Brown

By Joe Gorman | June 19, 2015 at 12:05a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

The day after a mistrial was declared for the second time in the 2009 murder case against Paul Brown, a judge in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court set bond at $500,000 for the defendant.

Judge Maureen Sweeney also reiterated, as she did the day before, that the next trial date of July 20 is set in stone and there will be no continuance granted.

Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa asked for the $500,000 amount Thursday, saying it is necessary because Brown, 37, had the weapon used in the crime, was the last person to see the victim alive, took the murder weapon off the victim and has a long criminal record, especially as an adult.

“He was probably in prison more than he was out of prison,” Cantalamessa said.

Brown’s lawyer, Tony Meranto, said he disagrees the gun Brown had was the murder weapon. He also said most of the witnesses the prosecution will call have long criminal records themselves.

“I would tell you that almost anyone that comes forward in Miss Cantalamessa’s case has a longer criminal record than Mr. Brown,” Meranto said.

Meranto also said Brown has no history of failure to appear in court, which is what bond is for – to guarantee someone’s appearance in court.

Judge Sweeney, however, set the bond at the amount asked for by Cantalamessa. She did not give a reason why.

Brown is accused of killing Ashten Jackson, 17, sometime around May 24, 2009. Prosecutors say the two were participating in a robbery planned by a third man. Jackson’s body was found May 30, 2009, in a field on the East Side near where the robbery was to take place.

In 2012, a mistrial was declared because of a police report and a video defense counsel did not have. In 2013, the murder charge was briefly dismissed when Meranto claimed police tampered with Brown’s cellphone. A judge reinstated the charge, however, because testimony at a hearing showed there was no tampering.

On Wednesday, the case was declared a mistrial because of a video prosecutors wanted to play that Meranto said he had never seen before the trial.