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YOUNGSTOWN -- Brandon Crump Jr. and news reporters waited about 90 minutes Thursday afternoon while the attorneys in Crump's aggravated murder case met privately to discuss issues with Judge Anthony D'Apolito such as jury selection that will begin Feb. 5 in the killing of Rowan Sweeney, 4.
The first order of business starting Feb. 5 will be individual questioning of potential jurors regarding pretrial publicity. Cases that have gotten a lot of publicity routinely involve such questioning to determine whether a person has already made up his or her mind about the guilt or innocence of a defendant.
Crump, 21, waited at the Mahoning County jail but was shown waiting on a video hookup in the courtroom of Judge Anthony D'Apolito. Also in the courtroom were reporters, as the attorneys huddled in the jury deliberation room away from the courtroom.
After the 90-minute session, Ryan Kadel, D'Apolito's bailiff, said the discussion was not about any potential plea deals for Crump. But the parties set one more pretrial hearing for 1 p.m. Feb. 1 so that any last-minute motions filed in the case can be discussed.
The attorneys and Judge D'Apolito did not come into the courtroom to put anything on the record. But after the 90-minute meeting, attorney Lou D'Apolito, who represents Crump, spoke to him from the video hookup.
Kadle said the trial is likely to last two weeks or so. About 50 potential jurors are being called to the courthouse to start jury selection Feb. 5. Another 30 potential jurors will be called to come in Feb. 6 in case 50 is not enough.
The case has had a gag order that prevents any of the parties, such as the attorneys, from discussing the facts of the case with the public.
There have been a few recent filings, but nothing apparently requiring a ruling by the judge. Last week, Mike Yacovone, Mahoning County assistant prosecutor, filed a notice with the court that a substitute pathologist will testify in place of the pathologist who carried out the autopsy on the victim.
That pathologist has since terminated his employment with the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office. Dr. David Dolinak of the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office will testify instead.
The filing notes that Crump faces three counts of aggravated murder in the case and could get 20, 25 or 30 years to life in prison or life in prison without the possibility of parole, in addition to firearm specifications on all three counts, as well as other charges related to four adults who were shot but survived.
A separate filing on Thursday advised the court and the defense that prosecutors have provided a coroner's report from Dolinak to the defense.
Crump is accused of shooting Rowan to death Sept. 21, 2020, in a home on Perry Street in Struthers and shooting all of the adults in the home. He is accused of walking into the home through the front door, apparently to commit a robbery, but instead killing Rowan and injuring the others.
Crump's co-defendants are Kimonie Bryant and Andre McCoy Jr., who pleaded guilty earlier in the case.
Another filing in the case came from the U.S. Department of Justice that lays out the limits on the testimony that U.S. Justice Department witnesses can provide in the Crump trial.
It states that deputy U.S. Marshals can testify as to their role in the arrest of individuals connected to the case, including Crump, Bryant and McCoy, but "not as to any investigative efforts or techniques undertaken by the (U.S. Marshals Service) during the fugitive investigation to locate the defendant or any others."