Man gets six years in '09 homicide case

March 19, 2015 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Although a prosecutor said Wednesday a witness puts Earl Charity at the scene of a 2009 murder, the rest of his statements don’t match up to the physical evidence in the case.

Charity, 28, was sentenced by Judge Shirley J. Christian of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to six years in prison on a charge of voluntary manslaughter in the Oct. 4, 2009, slaying of Darrick Hall, 23, at North and Arlington avenues on the North Side.

A co-defendant, Marcus Rutledge, 28, also received a six-year sentence in 2012 when he pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in Hall’s death before former Judge James Evans.

Assistant Prosecutor Nick Brevetta told Judge Christian that six months after Hall’s death, a witness came forward who was arrested on a felony charge in an unrelated case, and told authorities that Charity was present when Hall was killed.

However, Brevetta said other statements the witness made were inconsistent with the physical evidence collected at the crime scene. Brevetta said police collected shell casings from a .40-caliber handgun and also had spent rounds from a .38-caliber handgun. The witness said Charity was firing an AK-47 assault rifle. No casings or bullets were recovered that could have been fired from that type of weapon, Brevetta said.

“None of that was recovered from the scene, and none of that was recovered from the decedent,” Brevetta said.

Charity entered an Alford plea Feb. 3. An Alford plea means a defendant maintains innocence but admits there may be enough evidence for a jury to convict.

The sentence Charity received will run concurrent to another sentence he is serving. In January 2013, Charity pleaded guilty to firing into a habitation, being a felon with a gun and two counts of felonious assault in a March 22, 2010, drive-by shooting in the 1100 block of Springdale Avenue. He was sentenced to seven years in prison in that case.

In 2012, Judge Evans dismissed murder charges against Charity in Hall’s death because he ruled Charity’s speedy-trial rights were violated. The prosecutors appealed that decision to the 7th District Court of Appeals, which ruled in their favor in January 2014.

Charity termed the entire incident “unfortunate” and said he wants to turn his life around.

“I’m sorry for what happened,” Charity said.

The sentence was agreed upon by both Brevetta and defense attorney Ronald Knickerbocker as part of the plea agreement.