Skip to Content
Offices in Cleveland & Columbus, Ohio 888-694-4645
Top

Attorney Ian Friedman Discusses Retrial of Colleen McKernan for Murder

|

After the original trial resulted in a deadlocked jury last April, the retrial for Colleen McKernan continues in Canton, OH. McKernan is currently facing fifteen years to life in prison for fatally shooting her husband on New Year’s Eve 2014. Attorney Ian Friedman, who represented McKernan during her first trial, recently spoke to The Repository about the case.

According to court records, McKernan testified that she acted in self-defense and that her husband could have killed her had she not taken action to protect herself. On the night of the shooting, McKernan’s husband, Rob McKernan, violently pulled her out of her car by one arm and carried her inside the home with one hand covering her mouth. When she tried calling for help, Rob grabbed her cellphone and proceeded to shake McKernan violently. According to testimony, Rob slammed McKernan down on the bed and said, “I’m going to give you a reason to call the police.”

McKernan testified that she then grabbed a gun from the windowsill and shot her husband in self-defense. Records show her husband was shot ten times, including twice in the face, but she remembers firing only the first shot.

“It Was Either Her or Him.”

Attorney Friedman told The Repository he believes that the first trial was necessary in order to successfully uncover the truth. “The key to the first trial was just making sure that the jury had what the real issue was,” Attorney Friedman explained. “Colleen was put in a position that was either her or him.”

During McKernan’s first trial last spring, Attorney Friedman said prosecutors emphasized how upset Colleen was over her husband’s “fiscal recklessness”, but this is not the motive they’re presenting in her retrial. “They’re now arguing it was in a fit of rage over the drugs… they’ll say whatever needs to be said to get a conviction,” Attorney Friedman said. “Colleen does not deserve it; she defended herself.”

Attorney Friedman pointed out that the prosecution has no proof of what led to the fatal altercation: “The thing that’s clear from the first trial and already, from what I’ve seen from the state’s case, is no one there can say what happened… so all they can offer is speculation.”

Read the full article from The Repository – Dissecting second trial of Colleen McKernan as defense continues making its case

If you’ve been arrested or are being investigated for a crime in Ohio, enlist the proven and aggressive defense of Friedman Nemecek & Long, L.L.C., L.L.C. today. Contact us to schedule your free case evaluation!

Categories: