Trumbull County official opposing parole request for convicted murderer
An inmate from Trumbull County who was convicted of murdering a man along a Warren street in August 2000 is scheduled for a parole hearing in November, and Trumbull County’s First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker this month has written a letter to the parole board opposing his release.
Who is Benjamin Green?
Benjamin Green, who turns 40 on Aug. 30, has spent the last 21-plus years of his life in prison. Becker wrote to the board asking members to keep Green behind bars because he is “a brutal, calculated, cold-blooded killer.”
Four years ago, the 11th District Court of Appeals upheld an earlier ruling by a Trumbull County judge denying Benjamin Green’s motion to withdraw his January 2002 guilty plea for murder in the shooting death of John Williamson, 18.
According to records, Green was just 16 years old when he fired four shots at Williamson as he rode his bicycle near Austin Avenue and Oak Street SW in Warren. One shot hit Williamson in the back of the head, killing him.
“The defendant … executed the victim as the victim was riding a bicycle on the streets of Warren. The victim fell off of his bicycle and the defendant then walked up to the injured victim and executed him by shooting him in the head,” Becker wrote.
Green told detectives shortly afterward he shot the bicyclist because he thought he might have a gun on him. The victim, Williamson stood just 4-foot 3-inches tall and weighed less than 100 pounds.
“The defendant claims he was afraid of the victim but yet shot and killed him without the victim so much as threatening the defendant let alone doing anything that would warrant his death,” Becker wrote.
What did Benjamin Green say in his appeal?
In his appeal to withdraw his plea, Green claimed evidence from this interrogation was obtained illegally because he was not accompanied by a lawyer. The appellate court ruled that Green had signed a statement waiving his Miranda right to have a lawyer present when interviewed by detectives.
On Feb. 7, 2002, former Judge Peter Kontos sentenced Green to serve 18 years to life in prison.
In his letter to the parole board dated August 8, 2023, Becker stated Green has “shown he has continued his violent criminal behavior while in prison.” The behavior report from prison shows Green has been caught with weapons, fought with correction officers and other inmates “and in general, not changed his violent behavior.”
“The defendant has clearly demonstrated he cannot control his behavior … he is certainly not suitable for parole,” Becker writes. “Balancing the public safety and this defendants’ rehabilitation, it is clear that scales tip overwhelmingly in favor of (Green’s) continued incarceration.”
Green is presently incarcerated at Allen Correctional Institution.
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