Barlow found not guilty of attempted murder, guilty of 2 assault charges

Mar. 15—MERCER — A Grove City-area man accused of trying to run over a state trooper was found not guilty Friday of attempted murder.

After five hours of deliberation, a jury found John Barlow Jr., 60, not guilty on three out of five assault charges. He was, however, found guilty of attempting to assault an officer and attempting to assault someone with a weapon, his pickup truck.

The jury ultimately decided that Barlow had no intention to kill or seriously injure Trooper Everett Lesko, however they did decide there was an effort to at least inflict minor injuries to Lesko.

The jury found Barlow not guilty of trying to injure Trooper John Masczko.

The trial's final day started with testimony by Trooper Jason Dominick, who was officer in charge of the case, and collected evidence at the scene of the encounter between Barlow and troopers Everett Lesko and John Maczko.

Dominick testified about the process of collecting evidence.

During cross-examination, defense attorney David Wenger asked why police did not test blood found in Barlow's vehicle or recover one shell casing, out of 12 shots police fired at Barlow's vehicle, that was never found.

Dominick said he did not believe that any of that work was necessary in the case.

Wenger also asked Dominick if bullets in the windshield went all the way through the vehicle; the trooper said he wasn't sure.

In an unusual development, Barlow testified in his own defense. Mercer County Common Pleas President Judge Daniel Wallace said it was the first time in his 11-year career as a judge that a defendant took the witness stand.

Barlow started his testimony by talking about a prior encounter in 2021 with Trooper John Maczko, resulting in DUI charges.

Barlow claimed that Maczko was unnecessarily aggressive and tackled him to the ground, injuring his back and chin. Barlow later admitted to escaping from police.

Relating to the current charges, Barlow said he was in his truck May 15, 2022, when he saw Maczko.

Barlow testified that he panicked, and his first instinct was to drive where his parents could see him if there were problems. He claims he heard no commands to stop or get out. When officers cut off his car, Barlow said he ran, to buy himself time to think.

"I just needed to find somewhere I could think of what to do," Barlow said. "I was so scared of what was going to happen."

Barlow then drove back roads at speeds up to 95 mph to places he knew. He testified that he went to a wooded area where he used to work on a nearby farm as a child. He parked his truck and turned off the engine to listen.

He said he was there for about 10 to 15 minutes, hearing nothing and thinking of what to do next.

Barlow said he heard people coming and thought it was a nearby farmer, and tried to drive away.

"I then heard what I thought to be thunder and debris from the truck was falling on my head," Barlow said in court. "I then heard another and my pinky finger was blown off, I thought I got hit by lightning. I had no idea there were officers."

Barlow claimed he started slowly driving immediately without processing what had happened. He claimed that Lesko was never in front of his car and that Maczko never tried to open the passenger door as Maczko claimed.

He then drove to his friend's campsite in Slippery Rock to figure out what to do next before police arrived.

Assistant District Attorney Andrew Acker cross-examined Barlow to contest his claims.

Acker asked Barlow why he ran in the first place and noted that Barlow's license is suspended, so he shouldn't have been driving.

He also questioned how Barlow would have been unaware of the officers in such close proximity.

Acker's last question was about a beer can found in the truck. The prosecutor asked if Barlow drank anything while he was in the truck.

Barlow said he did not drink anything in his truck before police arrived, and said he had a beer at the campsite.

In closing arguments, Wenger argued that the prosecution never proved that Barlow ever intended to kill or injure the officers, and claimed that he believed Lesko intended to kill Barlow, shooting from the side before Barlow saw him.

Wenger also referenced the police's failure to test the bullet trajectories or search for the shell casing that was not recovered.

The defense attorney said he believed the final shell casing would have been found further from from the crime scene because one of the troopers fired at Barlow as he passed them.

In Acker's closing argument, he referred to the prosecution witnesses' testimony.

He said that the bullet hole locations on the car were clearly from someone running left to right, the direction that Lesko said he was moving in as he attempted to evade Barlow's vehicle.

Acker asserted that Barlow was trying to injure the troopers when he started the car and began to drive, and his intent was to run over anything in his way.

After five hours of deliberation, the jury reached their verdict shortly before 8 p.m. Friday.

"The jury did what they needed to do, but I am still disappointed in their outcome," Wenger said. "I thought there was no evidence of any intent to hurt anyone, but the decision is theirs at the end of the day."

In total, the jury voted to declare Barlow guilty on two accounts of assault on Lesko, an account of fleeing the scene and an account of resisting arrest.{p dir="ltr"}The judge also found Barlow guilty of reckless driving, careless driving, failure to drive in a single lane and driving with a suspended license due to a DUI.

Barlow is scheduled to be sentenced on May 29.