An appellate court has granted a second trial for a former University of Akron student convicted of murder in the 2009 stomping death of a Kent State University senior.
Monday’s decision by the 11th District Court of Appeals came on the same day judges denied the appeal of Ronald Kelly, a second defendant serving life in prison for the death of 23-year-old Christopher Kernich.
For Adrian Barker, the court’s decision wipes out his murder conviction and life sentence. The appellate court ruled that Portage County Common Pleas Judge John Enlow wrongly blocked jurors from considering lesser charges against Barker.
Prosecutor Victor Vigluicci said his office will seek a reversal from the Ohio Supreme Court. Failing that, Barker will have his case heard by a second jury.
“Evidence wise, it’s a very strong case,” Vigluicci said. “We had 10 witnesses who all saw the same thing.”
Vigluicci would not directly comment about the appellate court’s ruling, which found that jurors hearing Barker’s case should have been permitted to consider less-serious charges of involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and assault.
Kernich, a Fairborn, Ohio, resident, was injured during a street fight in which he was knocked unconscious and stomped in the head while lying defenseless on the ground.
Barker, 24, has denied the allegations, an assertion at trial that Enlow cited in denying a request by defense attorneys to allow jurors to consider the lesser offenses. The appellate court found Enlow’s interpretation of the law to be flawed, primarily because of trial testimony from three women who appeared to lessen Barker’s role in the brawl.
Barker and Kelly, 22, were inside a car driven by Glenn Jefferson Jr. after a fraternity party in Kent the morning of Nov. 15, 2009. As they drove, words were exchanged between the UA students inside the car and a group of four KSU students walking home from downtown bars.
The talk quickly escalated into a fight between the men. Several witnesses said that at one point, as Kernich and Kelly squared off to fight in the street, Barker ran up and surprised Kernich with a punch to the head.
Kernich fell to the ground and struck his skull. Prosecution witnesses said Kelly and Barker then kicked and stomped the unconscious man. He died six days later.
For the defense, however, three women testified that the man they said initiated the fight, presumed to be Barker, did not join the other man in stomping and kicking Kernich.
In the 3-0 decision, the appellate judges cited medical testimony that said Kernich died of multiple blows to the head. They concluded that jurors may have convicted on the lesser charges if they believed witnesses who said Barker threw just one punch and did not kick or stomp the defenseless victim.
“As the injuries were such that no single punch or kick [or flurry of blows] could be isolated as the coup de grace, [Barker] could be found guilty of reckless homicide, and by implication, acquitted of murder,” Judge Cynthia Westcott Rice wrote in the decision.
Barker’s attorneys from the law firm of Baker & Hostetler did not return a message seeking comment Monday. Kernich’s family could not be reached for comment.
Jefferson was sentenced to one year in prison for lying to police and a grand jury investigating the incident. Barker and Kelly were convicted by separate juries under Ohio’s felony-murder statute. Each was sentenced to life in prison with parole eligibility after 15 years.
Monday’s decision gives Barker a second chance for an acquittal, or a chance for a lesser sentence. Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum 10-year sentence. Reckless homicide carries a maximum five-year term.
Kelly’s appellate attorneys did not contest the jury instructions. Rather, they argued other points, such as misconduct by prosecutors, ineffective defense attorneys and a lack of evidence. His appeal was denied in a 3-0 decision.
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com.