Court rejects Liberty convict Daryl L. Casey Jr.’s request for relief

Daryl L. Casey Jr. claimed ineffective counsel

WARREN -- A Liberty man convicted of shooting his neighbor in the summer of 2020 had his petition for post-conviction relief denied Monday by the 11th District Court of Appeals.

The ruling by the appeals court upholds the opinion of Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Rice, whose courtroom was the setting of the 2021 trial of 29-year-old Daryl L. Casey Jr.

At the conclusion of that trial, Casey was sentenced to seven to nine years in prison, including a three-year gun specification after being convicted by a county jury on a charge of discharging a firearm into a habitation.

On July 6, 2020, Casey was accused of shooting neighbor Kavin Moore four times in the leg during a dispute in the hallway of the Hadley Avenue apartment complex. After four hours of deliberation, the jury failed to come to a unanimous decision on a felonious assault charge against Casey.

Casey's attorney asked for post-conviction relief in a petition filed through Rice's court in November of last year.

That petition, which alleged ineffective assistance of counsel, was dismissed by the judge without a hearing, saying the charges were without merit and unsubstantiated.

Casey's attorney, Rhys B. Cartwright-Jones, argued in appeals court that the trial counsel for his client was ineffective because they failed to offer evidence to support Casey's purported diagnosis of PTSD.

Appellate Judge Eugene A. Lucci, joined by judges Matt Lynch and Robert J. Patton, upheld the conviction and prison sentence, with Lucci writing the decision for the three judges.

Lucci wrote that the three appellate judges found no error in the trial court's decision, stating "appellant's petition does not include any evidence, let alone medical or psychological proof (other than) the record of an independent PTSD diagnosis."

Cartwight-Jones also argued that the apartment where Casey's shots went may have not been occupied and believed that omission from trial counsel to be another sign pointing to ineffective counsel.

Casey will remain an inmate at the Marion Correctional Institution with an expected release date of March 2028.