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Jurors deliberate in East Side murder cases
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
Typically, attorneys make statements during closing arguments, but Wednesday, one of two men on trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on four counts of aggravated murder and other charges decided to make his own.
Just after jurors were brought into the courtroom and arguments were to begin, Michael Austin, 22, stood up and said he did not think he received a fair trial.
As deputies moved toward him to make him sit down, Judge John M. Durkin excused jurors from the courtroom, then warned Austin, his co-defendant Hakeem Henderson, 24, and any others in the gallery at the heavily attended trial that any outbursts will ensure a swift ticket out of the courtroom. In the case of the defendants, they would be given a television to watch the proceedings, the judge said.
Assistant Prosecutor Martin Desmond asked that both defendants be barred from the courtroom, saying there is evidence, including calls recorded at the jail, showing that the pair planned something to interrupt the trial, but the judge denied his request.
Jurors received the case to deliberate about 2:10 p.m. after they were instructed in the law by Judge Durkin. They deliberated for a few hours and were excused for the night.
The pair are charged in the Nov. 13, 2011, murder of Adam Christian, 23, and the killing three days later of Raymond “Ramel” Hayes, 23; and the September 2012 murders of Ryan Slade, 20, and Keara McCullough, 19, in a car on Benford Lane; as well as a count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. Austin faces a separate count of attempted murder involving a Dec. 23, 2012, shooting.
Prosecutors have said the pair acted as enforcers for a drug ring on the East Side led by Dwaylyn Colvin, 33, and Vincent Moorer, 32. They will be tried later for their roles in the case, along with two other people.
Prosecutors say that Austin committed the killings while Henderson was the driver and he can be convicted because of complicity laws. Testimony during the case primarily focused on Austin.
Assistant Prosecutor Michael Yacovone told jurors that despite claims to the contrary at the start of the trial by Austin’s attorney, Ed Hartwig, they have more than “rumors” and “street talk” for evidence. Yacovone said all witness accounts are backed up by other witnesses and their accounts come from Austin himself, who was quite pleased at the work he had done for the ring.
“Michael Austin is really the star witness because he can’t keep his mouth shut,” Yacovone said. “He wants to impress people.”
The common theme in all the murders, even the killing of McCullough, who police said was an innocent bystander, was to advance the drug dealing “empire” of Colvin and Moorer, as Yacovone described it.
“All of it was to protect the enterprise, the empire,” Yacovone said. “The muscle of this organization, ladies and gentlemen, is sitting in the courtroom.”
Hartwig said prosecutors have no eyewitnesses or physical evidence linking his client to any of the murders.
He said jurors are being asked to believe witnesses who all received generous plea deals in other cases to testify against his client.
“They’re relying 100 percent on the testimony of these convicted felons,” Hartwig said.
Deliberations are expected to continue today.