YOUNGSTOWN — Lynell M. Stanley, 40, went on trial Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on two counts of felonious assault and one count of misdemeanor assault in an Oct. 13 incident in which he is accused of causing serious physical harm to two boys at a home on East Lucius Avenue on the South Side and caused physical harm to the third boy by striking all of them.

Mahoning County Assistant Prosecutor Mark Carfolo told the jury during opening statements that Stanley struck two of the victims in the face.

Two of the boys were about 15 at the time. The age of the other boy was not given.

Carfolo said that two of the boys had gone to the home of the third boy. At about 8 p.m., they heard arguing and discovered that the sound was coming from Stanley and a woman.

“The evidence will show that Mr. Stanley becomes aggressive” toward the woman. “As a result of that aggression, the boys take it upon themselves to intercede in the situation. They begin to say ‘Calm down, settle down,’ but they don’t,” Carfolo said. Stanley continued the argument with the woman.

“The boys get closer to make sure that (the woman) is safe. When they do, Mr. Stanley turns his aggression towards them. He has a confrontation with them. He takes a swing at one of the boys. He misses him. (The boy) grabs him and throws him to the ground,” Carfolo said.

“Mr. Stanley gets up and strikes” the boy, who needed stitches to close the wound in his face. He also got a cut on his head. And he lost consciousness.

Stanley also struck the second of the boys, knocking him to the ground. He was unconscious for a short period, Carfolo said. Then Stanley went after the third boy, who squared off with Stanley in the street.

At some point, Stanley left, and so did the second and third boys.

The two boys went to the Gas Mart on South Avenue. Surveillance video shows “two young boys going into the store,” locking the door to the gas station from the inside.

A short time later, Stanley showed up there and tried to get inside, but he could not. He paced for about 10 minutes in the parking lot before leaving.

Youngstown police went to East Lucius to investigate what was going on there and find Stanley’s vehicle and have it towed. Stanley had returned, and police arrested him, Carfolo said.

Stanley is going to argue self-defense, but the evidence will show that Stanley was not justified in what he did, Carfolo said.

Defense attorney Nick Brevetta, who represents Stanley, said in his opening statement that Stanley “definitely caused the injuries” to the three males. But Brevetta said Stanley “was allowed” to cause those injuries because he was justified in using self-defense.

He gave an example of how that works.

“When someone breaks into my home and I shoot them dead, I committed a murder. I was justified in being allowed to do it. That’s what self defense does.” He said it does not mean the person who killed the other person committed a crime.

In this matter, Stanley was with his girlfriend, who had been drinking that night, and they argued, Brevetta said. She escalated the argument into a physical argument and assaulted Stanley, Brevetta said.

The issue for the three boys is that “When you step in to defend another, you step into their shoes,” Brevetta said.

He gave another example using Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge Anthony D’Apolito, who is presiding over the trial.

“If I am going to act to defend the judge, I better make sure the judge actually has a right to self defense because if he started it, I’m a criminal.” He said, “So if I didn’t see the judge start it, and I act because I want to defend him, I commit the crime,” Brevetta said

The trial resumes this morning.