Jury selection in Grandinetti trial to continue Tuesday

Katie Smolen, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

Jun. 6—EBENSBURG, Pa. — Jury selection will continue Tuesday in the retrial of a state prison inmate accused of killing another man in Johnstown when he was 16.

Mizzon Unique Grandinetti, now 21, is facing a charge of murder in the first degree in the May 1, 2017, shooting death of Barron Grumbling, 21 which occurred at the corner of Corinne Street and Merle Place in the city's West End.

Twenty potential jurors were selected Monday with 12 more to be selected Tuesday before the final pool of 16 is set.

The trial, which will begin Wednesday morning, will be the second time Grandinetti will face a jury in the case. In January, a mistrial was declared after two days of testimony.

Judge Patrick T. Kiniry declared the mistrial after a prosecution witness' testimony violated a pre-trial order barring statements about previous crimes or acts allegedly committed by Grandinetti.

Jury selection in the retrial will be held Monday and Tuesday, with the trial to start Wednesday and likely to run through June 13.

Johnstown police Det. Mark Britton told a grand jury that Grumbling was shot twice, once in the head and once in the back, and that a third bullet was found lodged in a porch near the scene of the crime.

According to the criminal complaint against Grandinetti, two unnamed witnesses provided testimony about the murder. One was allegedly an eyewitness to the shooting, and the other allegedly testified that Grandinetti confessed to the killing later.

Grandinetti, Grumbling and the alleged eyewitness reportedly were walking together when Grandinetti shot Grumbling with what appeared to be a snub-nose .357-caliber firearm, the complaint said, citing the alleged eyewitness' testimony.

According to Britton's testimony to the grand jury, the alleged eyewitness told police that Grandinetti had slowed and bent down as if to tie his shoe, then fired three shots at Grumbling as he and the alleged eyewitness walked on ahead.

In the January trial, the purported eyewitness testified that he, Grandinetti and Grumbling were walking to get cigars from a local gas station to make blunts of marijuana.

Grandinetti is being represented by attorney Randall McKinney, of Pittsburgh, according to online court records.

Grandinetti is currently serving a four- to eight-year state prison sentence imposed in August 2019 on drug and reckless endangerment charges in a separate case.