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Staff Photo / Guy Vogrin Jody A. Elliott, 43, of Niles, listens to oral arguments from his trial on Wednesday in Trumbull County Common Plea Court. Elliott was acquitted of a robbery charge but found guilty on three drug possession charges.
WARREN – A man from Niles received a split verdict as a two-day trial ended Wednesday in Trumbull County Common Plea Court.
Jody A. Elliott, 43, of Victor Avenue, testified in his own defense and was acquitted by a jury of a robbery charge, but the same jury found him guilty of the cocaine possession charges , possession of heroin and possession of a fentanyl-related compound.
Elliott’s bail was revoked and he was taken to jail, with Judge Peter J. Kontos setting his sentence at 9 a.m. on Friday. He faces a maximum of three years in prison.
The charges stem from an incident on November 2, 2019 in the 1300 block of Hazelwood Avenue SE, where a 53-year-old man was beaten, stolen from his cell phone and taken to the woods.
“It was a fair verdict” said defense attorney Charles Mickens, whose client told jurors he didn’t steal anyone, but fled when he saw police.
The jurors took less than an hour to decide.
Assistant District Attorney Charles Morrow thanked Warren’s officers for investigating the case and testifying, along with the others.
“We must always respect the decision of a jury”, said tomorrow.
As part of the prosecution case, the victim testified with a neighbor, as well as officers from the Warren Police Department, an officer from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigations and a 911 dispatcher from Trumbull County.
Elliott was the only defense witness. He said the man, who was a friend, owed him around $ 200 and when he only took out $ 20, Elliott said he got angry because the man paid another anybody. According to the defendant, the man pointed a finger to his face, and that’s when the confrontation turned physical.
“We were really slapping each other, but because I have skills, things turned out like this”, Elliott told Morrow during cross-examination. “I broke down and hit him.”
The victim, who was bleeding from his nose and mouth, had a broken nose and bruises on his forehead, according to previous testimony.
Morrow, in closing, said the accused was the only one who spoke about the victim who stood up for himself and handed him the phone to speak to a woman, whom Elliott had identified as his cousin. When Elliott was arrested by police, the phone was in his hands and two sachets of drugs were in his pocket.
“Sir. Elliott was not credible as a witness with so many holes, inconsistencies in his testimony. You have to throw it out,” Morrow told jurors ahead of their deliberations.
Morrow said two witnesses, the victim and a neighbor watching from his yard, earlier told jurors that the man in red, identified as Elliott, grabbed the victim’s phone.
At the stand, Elliott admitted to using drugs that day. During examination-in-chief, the accused spoke about his criminal record which includes a four-year prison sentence for drug possession.
Elliott now faces another jury trial which court records show begins Tuesday in Kontos court on a separate robbery charge. This case concerns a February 13, 2019 incident that Niles Police investigated.
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