A trial scheduled Tuesday morning for two brothers charged with an Oct. 29 assault in Bowling Green,
ended in a mistrial because of the possibility of a tainted jury pool.
Wood County Common Pleas Court Judge Reeve Kelsey said, "This is the first mistrial I have had in a
criminal case in nearly 14 years on the bench."
Justin A. Morel, 23, and Jacob M. Morel, 22, both of Risingsun, are both facing felonious assault and
robbery charges involving an early morning incident. The robbery involved the theft of a purse from an
additional victim.
According to Kelsey shortly after the panel of potential jurors gathered during preliminary questioning
one juror indicated someone had contacted him warning him he needed to return a not guilty verdict.
The defense attorney for both defendants, Drew Hanna, immediately requested a mistrial.
The judge indicated the potential juror’s remark may not have been heard by all the other jurors and that
it was possible, to still seat an impartial jury.
Kelsey dismissed all the jurors to the hall and began summoning them into the courtroom, one by one.
The judge said after eight or 10 had been asked about the situation, both sides in the case agreed that a
mistrial was appropriate. He granted the motion and went into the hall personally to inform all the
jurors they were excused.
"We will just summon a fresh panel and try again later," Kelsey said following the unusual
procedure.
A new trial has been set for Jan. 15-17.
Thomas Matuszak, an assistant prosecutor for Wood County, said one unusual aspect of the incident
involved the use of a nickname, "Jomo" for Jacob Morel, which was never included in any court
documents or proceedings.
Matuszak said he joined in the request following the initial questioning of some of the jurors.
"By Mr. Hanna’s questioning I sensed the implication his clients had something to do with it. I did
not want to go through a trial for a conviction and later lose on appeal due to the situation,"
Matuszak said.
Prior to trial both the defense and prosecution are provided a list of the potential jurors who are to be
summoned for the case. It is a common practice for attorneys to go over the list with their clients in
advance to discover if there any possible conflicts with the jurors.
At this point it is not clear how the caller obtained the name of the potential juror. In view of the
request made for a not guilty verdict and the use of a nickname for one defendant, suspicion would
naturally fall upon the defense side of the case.
Following the mistrial declaration, Matuszak asked to have bond raised from $15,000 with 10 percent
applicable for each defendant to $50,000 with no percent allowed.
The judge denied the request, but did allow the motion to alter the bond condition to have no contact,
direct or indirect through a third party or online source with any of the list of witnesses which the
prosecution had listed during the brief ceremonies Tuesday morning.
In December 2010, the brothers were also charged with trafficking in marijuana. Both men pleaded guilty
in February and were placed on three years of community control sanctions.
Rogelio Guerra IV, 21, of Fostoria, is also a codefendant in the felonious assault charge. He is
scheduled for a further pre-trial hearing on Monday.