Mistrial declared in ‘12 murder case

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The defendant in a 2012 murder case over stolen electricity never told a judge until a jury was picked to hear his case that he asked a federal court to free him from jail.

Judge Maureen Sweeney declared a mistrial Tuesday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the case against Michael Paige, 23, who is charged with the March 1, 2012, death of Munir Blake, 31.

Paige was tried before Judge Sweeney for Blake’s death in early 2014, and a jury found him not guilty of aggravated murder – or prior calculation and design – but could not reach unanimous verdicts on lesser charges of murder, voluntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence.

Because of that, prosecutors elected to try Blake again, this time on a charge of murder.

He remains in the Mahoning County jail, where he has been since he was arrested shortly after Blake’s death.

In October, Paige filed a writ of habeus corpus in the U.S. Northern District Court of Ohio asking that he be set free.

Blake contends that because the jury found him not guilty of the aggravated murder, he should be released from the jail because another trial would result in double jeopardy, which would violate his rights under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

A federal magistrate Dec. 8 gave the county 45 days to respond to Paige’s request.

Since his first trial, Paige has new lawyers, and his new lawyer, Mark Lavelle, said he was not aware of the writ.

Jury selection in the new case began Monday and a jury was selected. That jury then visited the crime scene on Lora Avenue on the North Side and were set to hear opening arguments Tuesday before Paige told Judge Sweeney about his lawsuit.

The judge investigated and found the suit, then declared a mistrial so the county could have time to respond, Lavelle said.

A status hearing will be set within 90 days, Lavelle said.

Blake was killed after being shot nine times inside a building in the 200 block of Lora Avenue after police say he feuded with a neighbor because she was stealing electricity from him.