Verdicts split in stomping-related case

This week’s trial of Demarko D. Anderson, accused of shooting into a North Linden residence after threatening its occupants, would have received little attention if not for the actions of a Columbus police officer during Anderson’s arrest.

Cellphone video taken by a bystander captured Officer Zachary Rosen stomping once on Anderson’s head as Anderson was lying facedown and being handcuffed by another officer on a driveway entrance on April 8, 2017. Rosen was fired three months later by Columbus Public Safety Director Ned Pettus, but he was reinstated to his job last month by an arbitrator.

Meanwhile, Anderson’s case moved on to a Franklin County courtroom, where a jury acquitted him Wednesday of discharging a firearm into a habitation and convicted him of two lesser charges.

The jury found him guilty of a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon, with a gun specification, and a misdemeanor charge of aggravated menacing. He was acquitted of a second aggravated-menacing charge.

However, Common Pleas Judge Richard A. Frye convicted him of illegally having a gun after a previous felony conviction, which carries a more serious penalty than the jury’s convictions.

All told, Anderson, 27, could be sent to prison for as long as five and a half years when he is sentenced by Frye on May 17.

Testimony showed that Anderson made two early-morning visits to an apartment in the 4100 block of Maize Road and threatened the two occupants: John Marteney Sr. and John Marteney Jr. The elder Marteney testified that on the second visit, Anderson showed them a handgun in his pocket before he walked around the side of the residence. Both said they heard one or two shots after Anderson was out of view.

Police found a hole in the side of the residence but did not recover a bullet or shell casings. Defense attorney Chris Cooper told the jury in his closing argument that there was no physical evidence or eyewitness to support the shooting-into-a-residence charge. Assistant Prosecutor Jack Wong argued that circumstantial evidence was enough.

The aggravated-menacing charges required proof that the men believed they faced serious physical harm. The jury made that finding for John Marteney Sr., but not for his son, who was in a dispute with Anderson.

Officers arrived quickly, based on a 911 call from the father, and saw Anderson running from the scene. One officer initially had Anderson in custody, but police said he pushed off the officer and ran. After Anderson was finally apprehended, one of the officers found a semi-automatic handgun in a pocket of his sweatpants.

Rosen, the officer disciplined for the stomping incident, did not testify. Jurors did not see video of the incident but were questioned about it during jury selection to make sure that hearing about Rosen’s actions would not cause them to be unfair to Anderson or other officers.

Anderson did not take the stand.