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Jurors deliberate in East Side murder case
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Defense attorneys said Thursday during closing arguments in Mahoning County Common Pleas áourt for a man accused of a 2013 murder that “people lie, but science doesn’t.”
David Betras was speaking of the testimony of a key prosecution witness against his client, Anthony Hopkins, 38, of West Dewey Avenue, who is accused of killing 33-year-old Frank James Brown, who was found shot to death early Sept. 28, 2013, on Truesdale Avenue on the East Side.
Assistant Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa told jurors in the courtroom of Judge Shirley J. Christian that they did make a plea deal with the witness, Randall Miller, who will serve 15 years in prison for a charge of involuntary manslaughter because he was the person who knew who killed Brown.
“We made a deal with a demon to get the devil,” Cantalamessa said.
But Betras said the deal is a rotten one because Miller, who admitted to selling drugs, told many lies.
“That’s who I would want to rely on. I want to rely on the devil, a drug dealer” Betras said sarcastically of the prosecution argument. “Randall Miller is a lying devil.”
Jurors began deliberations early Thursday afternoon after receiving instructions from Judge Christian, who then dismissed them for the night about 4:30 p.m. They resume deliberations at 9 a.m. today.
Miller and his wife, Megan, a former cashier in the city’s finance department, were both charged with the murder of Brown, who was found lying amid shards of auto glass that were later traced back to the Millers’ Hazelwood Avenue home.
Megan Miller ended up pleading guilty to a charge of tampering with evidence, and her husband pleaded guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter Oct. 1, 2014. A grand jury indicted Hopkins the day after Randall Miller pleaded guilty.
Prosecutors did not give a motive as to why Hopkins killed Brown.
Cantalamessa said Randall Miller’s testimony was truthful, and they made the deal with him because they knew he could provide information on who killed Brown. She said Randall Miller’s 15-year prison sentence was nothing to sneeze at, especially for a 40-year-old man, which is Randall’s age.
But Betras said Randall Miller lied because Miller was the person who shot Brown. Betras also said there was evidence found in the Millers’ garage that police failed to test, and because of that authorities are letting the real killer go free.