Death penalty ruled out for suspect in Rowan Sweeney case
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YOUNGSTOWN -- Even though Brandon Crump Jr., 18, is indicted on charges that could result in the death penalty in the murder of 4-year-old Rowan Sweeney, Crump cannot get the death penalty.
But because he will be tried as if he could get the death penalty, he will have as many as three attorneys.
Those conclusions resulted from Crump's first pretrial hearing Thursday, when the attorneys and Judge Anthony D'Apolito of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court discussed how the case will proceed.
Crump is one of three men indicted on death-penalty-level charges, plus several counts of attempted murder, felonious assault and aggravated burglary in the Sept. 21, 2020, killing of Rowan and the shootings of his mother and three other adults at a home on Perry Street in Struthers.
The judge, defense attorney Lou DeFabio and assistant county Prosecutor Dawn Cantalamessa agreed that Crump cannot get the death penalty if he's convicted -- because Ohio does not allow it.
A juvenile can be charged with death penalty-level charges. Because Crump was younger than 18 when the crime took place, Ohio law does not allow for him to be sentenced to death. Also, because of an Ohio law that took effect Monday, he or she cannot be sentenced to life in prison without parole, Cantalamessa said.
But once a person is indicted on charges that could produce the death penalty, "the case must include all of the same steps as if it were a death-penalty case," she said.
That includes a mitigation phase after the trial, where the defense presents witnesses to explain the reasons for the person's behavior.
If the defendant is convicted of aggravated murder and death penalty specifications, the "jury gets to decide the sentence," Cantalamessa said. In other types of trials, the judge alone decides the sentence.
Cantalamessa added: "One of the defenses at the trial is that he wasn't 18 at the time, but the law still allows us to charge with the death penalty specifications."
DeFabio said it "doesn't make much sense to me" that a defendant's indictment contains his or her birthdate, showing that he or she was a juvenile at the time of the crime, but the indictment can still treat the person as if he or she were an adult.
He said he wondered why the courts ask jurors to be prepared to hear mitigating evidence regarding the death penalty when "life without parole and death are simply not an option."
D'Apolito also asked for input from the attorneys on how many attorneys will represent Crump. The judge said he wanted to appoint DeFabio and attorneys Ed Hartwig and Jeff Kurz, who represented Crump in juvenile court. Kurz is not eligible to represent a defendant facing a possible death sentence but will be eligible next month, Kurz said. State law requires the judge to appoint at least two attorneys, DeFabio said, reading from the law.
Cantalamessa said the prosecutor's office objects to giving Crump a third attorney.
"The defendant is not entitled to three attorneys. He is not entitled for another $50,000 to get a third attorney," she said. "That is a waste of the taxpayers' money," she said.
The judge responded by saying that in a case like this, where a defendant was indicted with death penalty specifications, the judge's decisions will be scrutinized by appellate courts. So he will "err on the side of the defendant and his rights because death is on the table," the judge said.
The judge added, "I am not going to let things like this monetary issue decide" whether to provide Crump with a third attorney. D'Apolito said he will decide that issue later. Kurz participated in Thursday's hearing.
After the hearing, the attorneys agreed upon Jan. 24, 2022, for Crump's trial and set his next pretrial hearing for 1:30 p.m. May 20. Crump remains in the Mahoning County jail in lieu of $500,000 bond.
During the hearing, Kurz raised the issue of where in the jail Crump should be housed. He has been alone in the juvenile pod of the jail since just after he turned 18 in January. Kurz said he should remain there because of the potential for trouble with other inmates.
Cantalamessa said there is no evidence that Crump should be separate from anyone except co-defendant Kimonie Bryant, 24. A third co-defendant facing the possibility of the death penalty, Andre McCoy, 21, is not in custody, but prosecutors have not indicated where he is.
The case has a gag order preventing the parties, including the attorneys, from discussing the facts of the case.
Capt. Joe Hood of the sheriff's office told the judge that jail officials try not to leave a person in isolation the way Crump has been so far.
"It's pretty clear he should be in the general population," the judge said. But he asked the parties to file briefs, partly so the specific threats against Crump are documented. He will decide on the issue after that, he said.
It took 26 minutes for the judge to read Crump's entire indictment aloud, after which DeFabio entered a not guilty plea for Crump to all 17 charges.
In many places in the indictment, the charges allege that Crump was either "the principal offender" of offenses such as killing Rowan or attempting to kill the four adults, or "if not the principal offender, committed (the crime) with prior calculation and design."
erunyan@vindy.com