Lima resident Kenneth Cobb is slated to stand trial for a second time on Sept. 18 on charges of felonious assault and having weapons under disability. Cobb was convicted in 2020 on the charges related to the shooting death of Branson Tucker following a gambling dispute. The Ohio Supreme Court later overturned that verdict.
J Swygart | The Lima News
LIMA — Kenneth Cobb, whose 2020 conviction for felonious assault was later overturned by the Ohio Supreme Court, appears headed for a new trial in Allen County Common Pleas Court next month.
Cobb was acquitted by a jury in January of 2022 of murder in the shooting death one year earlier of Lima resident Branson Tucker in what was described as an altercation at an after-hours gambling establishment.
The same jurors convicted Cobb of felonious assault, with a three-year firearm specification, and having a weapon under disability. He was sentenced to 11 years in prison on the two counts.
Cobb appealed the verdict, alleging his trial lawyer provided ineffective legal counsel for failing to make a motion to preclude from trial the terms “after-hours joint” and/or “gambling establishment” in the presence of jurors.
The Ohio Third District Court of Appeals denied the appeal, but the Supreme Court ruled in October of 2020 that Cobb should be retried on the charges.
Cobb, now 64, was charged with Tucker’s death which occurred after tempers flared during a gambling session at 975 St. Johns Ave., Lima.
Dustin Blake, Cobb’s attorney at the time, told jurors Cobb was protecting himself when he shot Tucker in the leg during the confrontation over gambling proceeds. Tucker died as a result of those wounds but jurors ruled the Lima man was not culpable in Tucker’s death.
Cobb appeared in Allen County Common Pleas Court on Thursday as prosecutors placed on the record a proposed resolution to the case.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kyle Thines said the offer called for Cobb to plead guilty to the felonious assault charge in exchange for the dismissal of the attached firearm specification and the weapons under disability charge.
Cobb rejected that proposal and a trial date of Sept. 18 was scheduled.
