No verdict Tuesday in James Stewart trial over 2024 fatal Columbia Twp. bar shooting

ELYRIA — Jurors considering the fate of a Brunswick man who fatally shot an Olmsted Falls man in a Columbia Township bar last year failed to reach a verdict Tuesday after a full day of deliberations. Nine women and three men are tasked with coming to verdicts on felony charges of murder, felonious assault, illegal possession of a firearm in a liquor permit premises, firearm specifications and a misdemeanor charge of using weapons while intoxicated against James A. Stewart Jr., 42. The jury returns to continue deliberating at 8:30 a.m. today in Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Chris Cook's court. Stewart pleaded not guilty by reason of self-defense or defense of others in the death of 49-year-old Jason Kleinman, whom he shot in the head and killed inside Joker's Pub and Grub on Sprague Road on May 10, 2024. Jurors deliberated for two hours Friday without a resolution. They returned Tuesday morning after a three-day weekend. At one point just before 2 p.m. Tuesday, the jury reported it was deadlocked and couldn't reach a verdict. Cook brought the jury into the courtroom and read it a "Howard charge." That's an instruction to encourage jurors to continue deliberations and reach a verdict. Jurors deliberated about another 90 minutes after that with no verdict. Earlier Tuesday morning, jurors sent Cook a written question: "Can we have clarification on the law if it is illegal to possess a firearm in a liquor permit premises?" "'Yes it is illegal to possess a firearm in a liquor permit premises, but you still must decide whether or not the state proved all the elements of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt,'" Cook wrote back. Chief Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Chris Pierre didn't object to the answer, but defense attorney Michael Stepanik did. "The answer is that there are circumstances under which it is legal to have a firearm in a liquor permit premises," he said, citing Ohio Supreme Court rulings and state appeals court rulings. "'Yes' as the answer is an incorrect statement of the law." Cook noted the objection but sent the written answer back as written. Prosecutors alleged the Stewarts drank 21 to 27 alcohol drinks between them in four stops at two bars in the eight hours before the killing. They alleged James Stewart armed himself and intentionally shot Kleinman in a drunken rage. The defense said Mark Stewart was in danger of suffering serious physical harm from an unprovoked assault when his brother reacted to protect him. James Stewart, who is free on bond, testified he "regrettably" killed Kleinman when Kleinman began beating his brother, Mark Stewart, after a disagreement about the alleged use of a racial slur. Mark Stewart didn't use a racial slur, Kleinman's friend Lewis Wade testified in court. Rather it was Kleinman who made a joke at Mark Stewart's expense, which Wade and Kleinman brushed off until Mark Stewart told James Stewart what happened. James Stewart left Joker's, got a 9 mm handgun from his truck, went back inside and confronted Wade. Wade allegedly headbutted James Stewart, who threw five wild punches that didn't connect, according to video evidence. Bystanders separated the two men and James Stewart moved away from Wade. That's when Kleinman began hitting Mark Stewart for unknown reasons. James Stewart shot Kleinman in the head, killing him, while a second bullet wounded Kleinman in the arm. Mark Stewart testified during the trial that he doesn't remember the incident, except to say he was "attacked" and suffered a concussion. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.