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YOUNGSTOWN -- Mahoning County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Scott Krichbaum resolved a new complication Wednesday in the murder case of Eddie Winphrie, 43, and Vincent Marbley, 61, by appointing another new defense attorney and pushing the trial date back. It was scheduled to begin Monday.
Krichbaum appointed former Assistant Mahoning County Prosecutor Mike Yacovone to represent Winphrie after Winphrie's most recent defense attorney, Rhys Cartwright-Jones, filed a motion recently asking to withdraw after discovering that Cartwright-Jones represented a co-defendant in the case not long ago.
The filing stated that when Cartwright-Jones discovered this, he "determined that a conflict of interest, or at a minimum a potential conflict of interest under the Ohio rules of Professional Conduct, exists that materially limits (Cartwright-Jones') ability to continue representing" Winphrie.
Cartwright-Jones stated that he has a "continuing duties of loyalty and confidentiality to the former client" and therefore believed it was necessary that he step aside "to avoid any actual or potential conflict of interest and better protect the interests of all affected parties."
2024 KILLING
Winphrie and Marbley, both of Youngstown, are charged with aggravated murder, murder, aggravated robbery and other offenses in the Oct. 17, 2024, shooting death of Reynaldo Hernandez, 24, at a home on Bott Street on Youngstown’s East Side.
Cartwright-Jones' motion did not indicate what co-defendant he had represented, but a later filing by the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office identified the person as Andre K. Bailey, who was tried separately and convicted in the murder.
Krichbaum filed an entry Wednesday stating that a discussion took place at a Monday hearing on Cartwright-Jones' motion. Present were Winphrie and Marbley and their attorneys and Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro and Assistant Prosecutor John Juhasz.
Krichbaum stated he sustained the motion for Cartrwright-Jones to withdraw and appointed Yacovone, who handled many of the most high-profile cases in Mahoning County in recent years until he went into private practice.
The ruling states that because Winphrie is getting new counsel, the trial set for Monday will be reset to give Yacovone time to prepare and investigate matters related to the case.
Winphrie and Marbley are being tried together.
Cartwright-Jones was appointed to handle Winphrie's defense in September, after Winphrie's earlier attorney, Tony Meranto, asked to be excused from the case because of a conflict Meranto had with having previously represented a new witness that had come forward recently.
On Oct. 14, Maro and Juhasz filed a response to Cartwright-Jones' motion asking to be removed from the case, saying they did not object. Their filing stated that Cartwright-Jones represented Bailey in Bailey's appeal to the 7th District Court of Appeals after Bailey's conviction at trial. The appeal was denied.
Krichbaum may not be able to hear the case himself if any other postponements occur because he will leave the bench in February. A new judge takes over Feb. 9, 2027. Mark D'Apolito and Ross Smith are running in the Nov. 3 election to replace Krichbaum, who was first elected a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge in 1990 and is finishing up his sixth six-year term.
He also is the longest serving elected Mahoning County office holder. He is was not able to run for judge in 2026 because of the state’s age limit for judges.