A man who faces a possible death sentence for murder of a Barberton woman will not represent himself at his trial.
35-year old Earl Mann has asked Summit County Judge Marvin Shapiro to defer to his assisting attorneys during his August trial. Shapiro granted that request.
Mann is charged in the 1998 rape and murder of Judith Johnson, plus the sexual assault of her granddaughter. Former Magnolia resident Clarence Elkins was convicted of the killing, but cleared last year by new DNA evidence after serving seven years in prison.
