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Jurors weighing self defense in attempted murder case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Jurors in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court are trying to decide if a defendant in an attempted murder case acted in self-defense.
Jurors were sent home late Thursday by Judge Maureen A. Sweeney in the case of Jerome Given, 53, of Compton Lane, who went on trial Tuesday for the July 11, 2014, shooting of 44-year-old Charles Pete at Given’s home.
They are expected to continue deliberations today.
Jurors were seated Tuesday and began hearing testimony. Both sides rested their cases Wednesday with Given testifying, then jurors heard closing arguments Thursday morning before Judge Maureen Sweeney before being instructed on law and then retiring to deliberate.
Prosecutors said the shooting stemmed from a child-custody dispute. Pete was dating a woman who had two children with Given, and they were quarrelling over custody.
On the day Pete was shot, he said he stopped at Given’s home when he saw him outside and wanted to talk to him to see if they could settle the dispute.
Instead, Pete ended up shot three times , and Given was dragged several feet in Pete’s car as Pete tried to drive himself to a hospital.
Given’s lawyer, Tom Zena, said his client acted in self-defense and none of Pete’s testimony added up or made sense. Zena said his client agreed to talk to police with no lawyer present because he has nothing to hide.
Assistant Prosecutor Tom Andrews, in a rebuttal to Zena’s closing argument, said it was Given’s story that didn’t make sense. Andrews said for the case to be self-defense, Given could not have started the confrontation, and Andrews said Given did start it by hitting Pete in the face with a gun.
Also, Given has a duty to retreat if he is claiming self-defense, and Andrews said Given could have ran into his home. He also said it was Given who had a gun, not Pete.