Jury seated in murder case

27-year-old Elyria man accused in 2013 death of Wellington man

A jury of three men and 11 women will decide the fate of a 27-year-old Elyria man accused of a 2013 murder.

Nicholas D. Masley is facing two counts of murder and a single count of felonious assault in connection to the Dec. 14, 2013, death of 25-year-old Jeffrey Brooks of Wellington.

The trial was scheduled to begin March 19 before Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge James L. Miraldi, but a last ditch effort by Lorain County Assistant Prosecutor Donna Freeman and defense attorney Kenneth Lieux to come to a plea agreement stalled the proceeding.

Before jury selection began, both sides also discussed preliminary matters of evidence and jury instructions with Miraldi.

Freeman argued against the inclusion of assault as a lesser included offence in the instructions given to the jury before they begin deliberating the case.

These jury instructions outline the factors that must be proven to convict a defendant of a certain crime.

“There have been a lot of courts of appeals that have upheld trial courts’ decisions not to allow the misdemeanor assault on a felonious assault due to the force used, the level of damage, the level of injuries,” Freeman said. “There’s plenty of case law to support that he should not be given an instruction on a misdemeanor assault with the level of injuries to the victim in his case.”

Miraldi took the motion not to include the definition of assault in the instructions under advisement, but said he would not make a ruling on the matter until he has heard the evidence presented in the case.

Lieux moved to limit questioning of a toxicology report that will be admitted during the trial.

He said he had not received the toxicology report.

Freeman argued the report was used in drawing the conclusion on Brooks’ cause of death because he had used heroin earlier in the day of his attack.

Miraldi took the motion under advisement and said he would decide during questioning of the Lorain County coroner.

The trial is scheduled to begin with opening statements at 9 a.m., March 20.

ERIC BONZAR — THE MORNING JOURNAL Twenty-seven-year-old Nicholas D. Masley, of Elyria, appears with attorney Kenneth Lieux on March 19, before Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge James L. Miraldi before jury selection begins. Masley is accused of murdering 25-year-old Jeffrey...