LISBON - Eric Dillard can expect a new sentencing date since a judge overruled his motion for a new trial or acquittal for the 2008 murder of Jamie Farley.

"In this court's opinion there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict," Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court ruled late Wednesday.

A jury found the 31-year-old Wellsville resident guilty of murder, a gun specification for using a gun and having weapons under disability in May in connection with the April 22, 2008 shooting death of Farley, an East Liverpool resident who was 35 years old at the time of his death.

The incident occurred outside Dillard's residence on Commerce Street, where he claimed he acted in self-defense when Farley approached him in a menacing manner. Minutes before the shooting, Farley had left the residence after a confrontation when Dillard pointed a gun at him and told him to leave. He then returned. Police recovered no evidence of Farley having a weapon.

Dillard's defense team filed a motion in June claiming prosecutorial misconduct, abuse of discretion by the judge and new evidence as reasons a new trial or acquittal was warranted. For new evidence, they claimed someone saw a woman dump a bag in Highlandtown Lake that they suspected held Farley's gun, although they didn't produce the bag.

The affidavit came from David Crowe, a man who was in jail with Dillard shortly after the jury found him guilty. He claimed the woman was the mother of Farley's girlfriend. Both she and her daughter were with Farley the night he died and were waiting for him in a car on Commerce Street when he was shot.

Prosecutors filed a response against the motion, arguing Dillard received a fair trial and questioning the credibility of Crowe and others the defense claimed had information to help their client.

"Obviously we're confidant that the court made the appropriate finding," county Chief Assistant Prosecutor John Gamble said Thursday in response to the decision. "We felt especially, the further we looked into the allegations, the more we concluded the motion was wholly meritless. Apparently the judge agreed the motion had no merit."

Gamble also said he was looking forward to getting on with the sentencing, adding "I'm sure the family of Jamie Farley is looking forward to it as well."

A call for comment to the office of defense attorneys James Hartford and Doug King wasn't returned Thursday evening.

Their client could be facing a minimum sentence of 18 years to life in prison, with 15 years to life for the murder and a mandatory additional three years for the gun specification. The having weapons under disability charge carries a possible sentence of one to five years in prison, which could push the sentence as high as 23 years to life if the judge chooses to order consecutive sentences.

In his decision against a new trial, Pike said there was no issue over whether Dillard shot the victim.

"He admittedly did, and with a weapon, which he possessed while clearly under a disability. The issue in the case became, did the defendant prove that he was entitled to the defense of self-defense? The jury found that the defendant had failed to prove the defense of self-defense by the necessary burden of proof, preponderance of the evidence," Pike wrote.

He asked his bailiff to reset the sentencing. It had been scheduled for June 29, but was cancelled so a hearing could take place on the motion for new trial. A new sentencing date will be scheduled, but no new date had been set as of Thursday.

Mary Ann Greier can be reached at mgreier@salemnews.net